


Long Live the Queen

by JanetBrown711



Series: Wakko's Wish Collection [13]
Category: Animaniacs
Genre: Abusive Grandparent, Angst, Child Abuse, F/M, Family, Family Feels, Feels, Gen, Protective Siblings, Wakko's Wish
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:53:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 31,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29319687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JanetBrown711/pseuds/JanetBrown711
Summary: What if Queen Angelina the First hadn't died? What if Lena and William were forced to marry in secret? What would happen to the story then?A Wakko's Wish Au I've been working on on Tumblr (fondly titled "Angelina 1 Lives Au"). To grasp why things would be different, you could read my Wakko's Wish collection to gain an understanding of the differences, but it's far from necessary, especially if you've seen the movie.Lots and lots and lots of angst in this one fellas, better fasten your seatbelts.
Relationships: Dot Warner & Wakko Warner & Yakko Warner, william warner / angelina warner
Series: Wakko's Wish Collection [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2060778
Comments: 25
Kudos: 53





	1. The Beginning

Princess Angelina II was engaged to Sir William the Good, though it was in secret. After all, he was just a knight and she was the princess. For a moment, Lena thought their luck might be on their side when her mother fell deathly ill, but by truly miraculous means, the queen survived, which meant they had to continue in secret.

However, secrets had a cost to them, in the sense that no one else knew. This meant that Lena still had to deal with suitors coming over and trying to romance her, while she had already sworn herself to William. Needless to say, time was wearing on William and Lena more than they had originally thought. Still, they remained hopeful and patient that their time would come.

“Angelina, you have to at least accept one of the suitors. It’s better to at least not hate your future husband before marriage,” Queen Angelina the First gave her daughter a quick glare as she looked over papers. 

“I don’t like any of them, what can I say?” Lena shrugged. 

“You know, I really hoped it wouldn’t come to this-”

“Something I highly doubt,” Lena interrupted her mother. 

“Watch your tone,” Angelina warned, and Lena stepped down. 

“As I was saying... I hoped it wouldn't come to this, but since your impertinence has given me no other option, I will be selecting the suitor for you,” She said, signing one of the papers. Lena paused. 

“I-I’m sorry, what?” She blinked. 

“You’ve only done this to yourself, Angelina, I’ve no other choice. You aren’t getting any younger here,” She eyed her daughter up and down. 

“I- uh- will you excuse me, mother? I need to go,” Lena asked. Her mother looked at her suspiciously before nodding. Not wanting to be in there for a moment longer, Lena bolted out of the room and ran across the palace, all the way down to the royal stables, where William was. 

“Lena? What’s the matter?” He asked as he got off his horse. 

“My mother... she said...” Lena panted. “She said... she’s gonna... arrange...”

“Lena, you aren’t making sense. Have you been running?” William raised an eyebrow. Lena rolled her eyes and paused to catch her breath. 

“My mother said that because I didn’t pick a suitor, she’s choosing for me,” Lena explained. 

“Oh... oh that’s not good. What are we gonna do?” He asked her. Lena thought. 

“We... we need to get married. Now,” She said. 

“What- _now_ now?” William asked. 

“Well yes, I don’t know how long I’ll have. We need to do this, and we need to do this now,” Lena said, grabbing his hand. 

“Where are you going?” William questioned.

“The underground servant's tunnels. They go all over the kingdom. If we go far enough we can find a town with a priest and be married there. Hopefully, they won’t mind the short notice,” She explained. 

“Or the fact you’re the princess,” William pointed out. 

“...Yeah, that too,” Lena said, realizing she hadn’t thought that through. Still, she didn’t stop walking and soon enough they made it to one of the entrances. 

“So... where to?” She asked him. William read all of the signs before snapping his fingers. 

“I know a place where I know they won’t refuse us,” He winked, taking his fiancées hand. 

“Oh? And where is such a place?” She chuckled, enjoying the moment of rebelliousness. 

“Acme Falls, my home town. They love me there, I’m sure they’d love you too,” He smiled at her, and together they ran down the dark tunnels for hours, only stopping once or twice to catch their breath. Eventually, they surfaced and wandered right into the middle of the plaza. 

“So... now what?” She asked. 

“William? Is... is that you?” A very attractive blonde woman asked. 

“Heloise!” William smiled at the sight of his childhood friend. 

“William! What on earth are you doing here?” She ran and hugged him. “And with the crown princess-?! Oh my- I’m so sorry, your highness,” She immediately dipped into a curtsey. 

“Oh please, any friend of William is a friend of mine,” Angelina smiled. “If I may, you are _quite_ gorgeous,” She added. 

“Thank you,” Heloise chuckled, embarrassed. 

“We’re here to be married,” William explained. 

“You’re engaged to the princess???” Heloise asked. “Aren’t you two supposed to have a giant wedding ceremony with the whole kingdom invited? Isn’t that how royal weddings are supposed to go? My- I didn’t even think a knight could marry a princess,” She thought out loud.

“Actually, he- can’t. Not with my mother knowing anyway,” Lena explained. “That’s why we came here- to be married in secret.”

“Oh eloping is very romantic,” She nodded understandingly. “William knows where the church is. I can get the priest and a few townsfolk if you want,” she offered. 

“That’d be great, thank you,” William smiled. Heloise nodded, and ran off. 

“I guess you weren’t kidding about this place, huh?” Lena chuckled. 

“Acme Falls is practically perfect, what can I say?” He snorted. “Shall we?” he offered his arm. Lena took it with a smile. 

“We shall.”

And so Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca II and Sir William the Good were married in Acme Falls, with the town as their witnesses, and Lena was the happiest she had ever been in her whole life. Happily, they walked back to the castle, but they both stopped right before reaching the exit. 

“Are you ready?” William asked. 

“I don’t know. Why do we have to return?” Lena questioned. 

“Because it’s almost nightfall and you’re the princess and your mother would likely send a search party and it’d be a whole catastrophe,” Willaim joked, but Lena wasn’t in the mood for laughing anymore. 

“I’m frightened William,” She said. 

“It’ll be okay, Lena. I’ll always be here for you, remember?” He said, giving her hand a squeeze. 

“Right,” Lena nodded, about to step forward before stopping herself. 

“Stay with me tonight?” She requested. William nodded. 

“Of course, my love,” He said, and they shared a kiss. 

“Let’s go then,” Lena took in a deep breath, and together they stepped out onto the castle grounds. 

And so Lena and William slowly crept their way into her bedroom, far enough apart as to not raise suspicion, and spent the closet thing they’d have to a honeymoon together. In the morning, William kissed her goodbye, and climbed out the window, and went to his training, and she missed him terribly (despite being only a few buildings away).

Therefore, their secret engagement now turned into a secret marriage; a marriage that Lena realized she was going to have to tell her mother about sooner or later before it was too late and she was already in the middle of another wedding ceremony. However- she wasn’t quite ready and preferred to hold onto her nights of paradise with William however long as possible before her mother tried to ruin it somehow. 

Except she couldn’t, Lena reminded herself. Divorce was simply unheard of, especially for royalty, so her mother would simply have to deal with it. That was the main reason they eloped in the first place. 

The good/bad news was that William had been promoted to be a guard inside the castle, so Lena would see him much more often than she used to, but it was awkward because she couldn’t talk to him, much less flirt. Plus, he often watched over her mother in the throne room, and he said that it was “the most stressful situation he’d ever been in”. 

“Excuse me, Princess, your mother said she’d like to see you,” A servant girl stood outside of Lena’s room. 

“Whatever for?” Lena asked, setting down her book. The girl shrugged. With a sigh, Lena set down her book.

“Does she seem upset?” She asked, getting up and heading out of the room. 

“No... in fact, she seems almost happy, your highness,” The girl said. 

“My mother? Happy?” Lena blinked. “This can’t be good...” she said, picking up her pace. With haste, she reached the throne room. 

“Lena, there you are,” Her mother smiled at her, “You’ve met King Benedict,” she gestured to the king standing by her throne. 

Uh oh. 

“Why, yes I have,” Lena nodded at him, sharing a quick glance with William in the corner. 

“He’s the one you’ll be marrying,” She announced. 

Shit. 

“Mother, may I have a word with you- alone?” Lena asked with a nervous smile. Angelina frowned. 

“It’s already been decided for you, Angelina. You didn’t decide and because of that-” 

“I know, but I do need to talk with you,” Lena interrupted her mother before she could think to stop herself. The queen’s eye twitched. 

“Fine.” She huffed. “King Benedict, you may wait in the grand hall,” she said. He nodded at her, then Lena, and left. Then, her mother’s focus went back to her. 

“This better be good Angelina, or so help me,” The queen threatened, and Lena felt a shiver crawl up her spine. She looked at William for support, and he gave her a weak smile. She took a deep breath. 

“Mother, I can’t marry him,” She said. 

“You don’t have a choice,” Her mother rolled her eyes. 

“I’m serious. I can’t,” Lena said again. 

“And why is that?” Angelina rubbed her forehead. 

“Because I’m already married,” Lena announced. Her mother froze. 

“To whom?” She demanded. 

“Sir William,” Lena admitted. Angelina’s eyes went to William, and he remained still as a statue. 

“Really now?” Angelina chuckled darkly. 

“It’s true. We eloped in Acme Falls three nights ago,” Lena said. 

“You expect me to believe that?” Angelina continued to laugh it off.

“Well- yes. We have certificates and everything- it was legally binding,” Lena didn’t know how else to explain such a simple fact to her mother. 

The queen leaned on her throne and thought for a minute. 

“Well, I suppose it’s a simple fix really, I could just have him execute-”

“A-and I’m pregnant!” Lena shouted over her mother, and the room fell utterly silent. 

“Y-you are..?” William blinked. 

“Yep,” She lied, laughing nervously. 

Definitely no going back on that one...

“Guards, leave,” The queen ordered, her face utterly unreadable. William and Lena shared a look of anxiety before he was forced to walk out. Once they left there was a long stretch of silence, before Angelina slowly took off her gloves, stood up, approached her daughter, and struck her across the face. 

“You stupid, pathetic, wretched child! Do you know how much you’ve just cost me?!” She shouted. “I’ve spent years upon years upon years finding eligible bachelors for you, and yet you never gave them a second thought, and for what? Some _bastard_ from Acme Falls?!” 

“Don’t you dare talk about William like that,” Lena protested, and Angelina struck her again, this time causing her to fall onto the floor. 

“I will say whatever the hell I want because I am your mother and I am your queen,” She said, towering over her. 

“If you kill him I’ll kill myself and you’ll be left with nothing,” Lena looked up at her. 

“Of all the impertinent, aggravating, abominable things you’ve done, you’ve decided to top it all off by marrying a filthy peasant,” The queen was barely keep in her anger. “I just- I can’t believe my own flesh and blood would betray me like this.”

“Oh please, like you’ve ever treated me like ‘flesh and blood’,” Lena muttered. 

“I have done nothing but care for you. I’ve clothed you, given you a home and an education, and provided you with numerous options for your future and future suitors. It’s not my fault you’re so impertinent that you refused to consider them for even a moment,” She clenched her fists.

“You’ve never loved me,” Lena said, tears beginning to stream down her face. “If you did, you’d be happy for me.”

“You never think anything through, Angelina. Did you not stop to think about how this would impact the kingdom? How this would impact _me_?” She asked. 

“I hate you,” Lena glared, and Angelina hit her again. 

“You are going to pay for your actions, Angelina. The hard way,” She declared. 

“It’s too late mother. There is nothing you can do to undo what’s been done,” Lena smirked. 

However, she quickly regretted her pride when her mother angrily yanked her hair and pulled her up, and then proceeded to drag her all the way up to the tallest tower of the castle. Her mother then tossed her in there and locked the door with a key she kept in her pocket. 

“You will _not_ be leaving this room until you have understood a fraction of the pain and agony you have caused me,” She said, before storming away.

And so Lena stayed in the cold, dark room and found herself sobbing and sobbing and sobbing and sobbing until she was sick to the stomach. 

Things were supposed to get better. She was supposed to be untouchable. She and William were married now- it was supposed to be okay. 

Instead, now she was locked away for who knows how long in a dark, cold room with a bare-bones bed, a broken mirror, a blanket as thin as paper, and a window. 

Lena picked up a shard of the broken glass, and without thinking, she chopped her hair off. 

That was one less thing her mother could manipulate...

And William... what was going to happen to him?

Would she kill him? Could she? He’s a trained knight, one of the best across all the lands, surely she couldn’t kill him “the old fashioned way”. Surely that would mean he would be okay... right?

And what if she was pregnant? Sure, she lied out there but she could be right. Oh, what terrible circumstances to be born into...

And so Lena remained sobbing, eventually setting the glass shard down, and laying on the horrible bed and holding herself, trying to get some sense of comfort. 

However, soon she felt another pair of arms wrap around her, and to her complete surprise, it was William. 

“William- w-what-? H-how-?” 

“Shh, it’s okay Lena, I’m here, it’s okay,” he hushed her. Lena didn’t argue.

“B-but how?” She asked. 

“I climbed,” He said. 

“Th-that’s like- 50 feet. You could’ve died,” Lena broke the hug. 

“Lena, it’s okay. I made it, and I’m here, that’s all that matters,” he placed a hand on her face, wiping away a few tears. Lena didn’t have it in her to argue further, so she hugged him again and continued to sob. 

“Th-things were supposed to get better,” She cried. 

“I know... I’m so sorry, my love,” Wiliam was crying too, and he stroked her head of freshly cut hair. 

“Did she do that?” He whispered. Lena shook her head. 

“She just gr-grabbed my hair a-and just dragged m-me s-so I cut it off,” she explained, trying her best not to hiccup. William hugged her tighter. 

“I’m so sorry, Lena...” He said. 

“I’m sorry too,” she said. “You’ll probably b-be killed or fired or de-knighted o-or something.”

“I don’t care, as long as we’re together,” He kissed the top of her head. 

“As long as we’re together,” she repeated those words to herself. Despite everything, they were a little comforting. 

“It’ll be okay, Lena. I-i don’t know how or when b-but it _will_ be okay. Someday...” he swore to her, and for a moment, Lena believed him. 

Someday it will be just she and him... maybe a few kids running around in a sunny field collecting wildflowers... and they’d be happy. Safe. Her mother would be dead and gone and they’d all be happy and safe and together. 

But it wasn’t “someday”. Lena’s reality was a cold tower far away from the ground and her friends and familiar faces, and her studies and books, for who knows how long, and she was miserable,

but at least she had William, and that made things at least a little bit better.


	2. Prince Yakko

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnerstock welcomes their new prince, and it becomes very clear what the queen plans to do with him.

Lena was locked in the tower for six agonizing weeks. 

She was only given food and water once a day by some servant who slid it under the door. Lena was sure the only reason her mother did that was that she needed her alive, otherwise she was sure she wouldn’t waste her time. At first, Lena was... well... not _happy_ but accepting of her food rations, but after two weeks passed very little food was able to stay down. 

So... Lena found out that she didn’t lie, and she was pregnant after all. 

In any other circumstance, Lena would’ve been overjoyed. If she weren’t in a tall, cold, dark tower high up in the castle, with William only available to visit and comfort her at night, she would’ve been excitedly planning everything out. She would’ve set aside a nursery and would’ve decorated it immediately out of excitement. She’d go into the town and look at little baby clothes from the local businesses and pick out the cutest ones. She wouldn’t have to worry about what her mother would do when they were born, or if they would end up having to be born in this dark and horrible place...

There was a moment there Lena feared she wasn’t ever going to be allowed to return, doomed to live there for the rest of her life. 

However, after six weeks a servant came up and unlocked the door, telling the princess her mother would allow her to come down. She wasn’t surprised her mother was either too much of a coward or too angry to release her herself. Still, Lena was extremely happy to be out and in the familiar clean halls of the palace, making sure to avoid her mother as much as possible, but it seemed her mother was avoiding her just as much, so at least the feeling was mutual.

Once down though, she and William quickly got to baby planning, as he was over the moon at the prospect of being a dad. They read and studied and decorated as much as possible in preparation for their little bundle of joy, perfectly fine with Angelina staying out of their way. 

And so, nine months later, Prince Yakko of Warnerstock was born. 

“I could look at him all day,” William said, admiring the sleeping newborn in Lena’s arms. 

“You’re telling me,” Lena chuckled, moving the blanket around him a little so she could better see his face. However, their moment of hypnosis was broken off when the doctor entered the room once more.

“The queen would like to speak with the two of you,” He said. Lena and William looked at each other, before looking back at him and nodding, and before they knew it, Angelina entered.

“Mother... how polite of you to ask permission before entering,” Lena snarked coldly, holding her son a little bit closer. 

“It wasn’t my choice, the doctor said he’d have to see if you were asleep or not,” She rolled her eyes. 

“What do you want?” William asked. 

“My you’re snappy. That’s no way to talk to your queen,” Angelina gave him a look. 

“Just get to the point, mother,” Lena sighed. 

“Fine,” Angelina huffed. 

“I figured I would make things easier on you two and make my intentions with your child clear from day one: I _will_ be in charge of their education and training and his preparation to become king,” She declared. 

“What? No. Absolutely not. I won’t let you near him,” Lena shook her head and practically shielded Yakko away from his grandmother. 

“You don’t have a say in the matter, Angelina. I was simply informing you,” She said. 

“I won’t let you. I won’t let you try and mold him into the monster you wanted me to be,” Lena fought back. 

“It is not your place to tell me what to do.” Angelina raised her voice. 

“You aren’t his mother!” Lena nearly shouted, but realized she was holding a sleeping infant just in time. 

“You forget who you are speaking to!” Angelina shouted. “I am your queen, Angelina. I have the supreme authority to do whatever I want with Warnerstock’s future king.”

“If you didn’t want this to have happened, you wouldn’t have married a bastard. You’re lucky I’m letting the little creature live,” She spat, and Yakko was awoken and began to cry. Lena growled, baring her fangs, but William placed a calming hand on her shoulder, though he was clearly mad himself. 

“My decision is final. Do what you will with him in the meantime, but he _will_ be learning under my instruction,” She smiled before exiting. 

“Shhhhh, it’s okay Yakko, she’s gone,” Lena quickly focused on her crying baby and tried rocking him. 

“This is bad... isn’t it?” William put a hand on his forehead as he tried to process. 

“William I don’t want to think about that right now,” Lena sighed and continued rocking. “I just want to enjoy having a baby, is that too much to ask?” She closed her eyes. 

“Of course not, my love,” He wrapped an arm around her. “I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to enjoy it, don’t worry. It’ll be several years before he’s ready for proper schooling, we’ll practically have him all to ourselves.”

That did make her feel a little better, but she was still angry. Her mother had no right to insult her precious baby boy like that, or William for that matter- and the _audacity_ to just burst in and declare that she’d be taking over his education- who did she think she was?

The queen. 

Her mother was the queen, and there was nothing she could do about that.

Lena sighed as Yakko’s cries finally ceased. 

“Well, then we’re going to make sure none of her lessons get through to him. We’ll make sure he’s kind, brave, and fiercely intelligent, won’t we William?” She said to Yakko. 

“Of course,” William smiled tiredly. “We simply won’t let her get away with this.”

“He’ll be such a good person, her corruption won’t stand a chance,” She smiled down at Yakko too. 

She wasn’t going to give up hope, not now. They were going to be a happy family despite her mother’s influences- somehow. She and William were going to figure it out, just you wait. 

And so Lena and William did their best to raise Yakko to be the kindest, bravest, and most intelligent little kid he could be. Behind the queen’s back, William would read him stories of brave knights and evil queens and teach him how to read said stories, and Lena would teach him compassion with all forms of life in the gardens. There were times Lena thought that perhaps the day her mother would begin her lessons would never come and that it would just be the three of them forever, but the day after Yakko’s fifth birthday Lena and William were summoned to the throne room and were told it was time. William wanted to put up a fight, but they both knew it was useless, and so they pulled Yakko away from playing with his baby brother and walked Yakko to her mother’s private study. 

“Remember Yakko, what did I say?” Lena asked, holding his hand. 

“Sit still, listen, and answer questions,” Yakko beamed at his mother. Lena nodded. 

“And remember, if there’s anything you disagree with, you can ask us about it after the lessons,” William reminded. Yakko nodded. 

“Then can I play with Wakko?” He asked his father. 

“He needs to take his nap, as do you when this is done,” William chuckled.

“Just remember, your grandmother can be wrong about a great number of things, though she doesn’t like to have it pointed out,” Lena explained for the millionth time. William gave her a sympathetic look. 

“Well- here we are,” Lena said, as she realized they had reached their destination. 

“Fancy,” the prince said, admiring the craftsmanship of the door. Lena chuckled, but the laughter was suppressed when the door opened. 

“There you are. You’re almost late,” Angelina looked at them. 

“Almost late is on time,” Lena shot back. 

“Barely,” The queen scoffed and stepped aside, motioning for Yakko to come in. Yakko froze, looking back at his parents. 

“It’s alright dear, we’ll be right here when you’re done, we promise,” William got on his knees and gave Yakko a hug. 

“We don’t have all day,” Angelina cut them off. 

“Good luck honey,” Lena gave Yakko a quick kiss on the forehead before Yakko then scurried inside the study. 

The queen gave them a look before closing the door and shutting them out. 

“You will sit there, at the center table,” Angelina pointed at the seat, and Yakko ran to it. 

“A good king takes his time, no need for running around when you have servants to do so,” Angelina remarked. 

“Running is fun. So is jumping, and skipping, and dancing, and-”

“A good king is also quiet, and listens to his superiors,” The queen interrupted Yakko, which got him to shut up. 

“M’sorry,” He said. 

Angelina scoffed. “Well at least they taught you something useful,” she said as she went to her chalkboard and wrote down those two ‘lessons’. 

“Why is running bad?” He asked. 

“A good student raises his hand before speaking and waits until he is spoken to,” Angelina didn’t even look back before writing. Yakko lowered his head in embarrassment, making sure to keep note. Yakko raised his hand. 

“Yes, Yakko?” She sighed. 

“Why is running bad?” He asked. 

“It’s improper and wild. A good king is orderly, and in control at all times,” She explained. “Take for example... your father. He isn’t king, so he runs around all the time. It’s because of that he isn’t king, understood?” She asked. 

Yakko thought about that. 

He didn’t _think_ there was anything wrong with his dad playing chase and tag with him, but he _wasn’t_ king, unlike him someday. 

He nodded. 

“Good,” She smiled, before something Yakko’s pocket caught her eye. 

“What is that?” She pointed. Yakko’s face lit up as he dug it out. 

“That’s my toy! It’s a bunny I named Bu-”

“Kings do not play with toys, especially toy rabbits,” Angelina held out her hand. Yakko blinked. 

“I’m not king yet,” he said. 

“Not yet, but you will be one day, so you must prepare. Hand it over,” She said, raising her voice slightly. With an eep, Yakko handed it over, and she took it away. 

“Good, the last thing you need to be is distracted,” She said, putting it into a pocket in her dress. Yakko raised his hand. 

“Yes?” She sighed, raising an eyebrow. 

“Can I have it back after?” He asked. 

“No, Yakko. This training is of the utmost importance. The fate of the kingdom will soon rest on your shoulders, and it’s important to prepare yourself for that reality,” She explained softly. Yakko thought long and hard about that. 

“Okay...” He ultimately agreed. After all, it did make sense. 

In all of the storybooks he read, kings were shown as strong and stoic, never playing with dolls or toys or even little brothers. They were brave and did what was best for others- though Yakko wasn’t sure he wanted to give up _all_ of that just yet. He liked those things after all. 

But if it would make him a good king...

“Good, let's carry on then,” Angelina said with a smile, and they continued their lesson.

And they did. Angelina told him tales of kings of old, and what traits they did and didn’t have, and which ones Yakko should aspire for, and Yakko listened and kept notes in his head. After all, nothing she said felt wrong, it made sense, so Yakko saw no need for alarm. Plus, it was fun learning about the history of his family, and the legacy he was to carry on. 

Yakko knew he was going to like his grandmother’s lessons. 


	3. The Learning Type

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wakko decides to tag along with Yakko for today's lessons, despite it not having gone well in the past.

Yakko loved studying. He loved learning, and growing, and obtaining more knowledge and skills in any way he could. His dad said he got it from his mother, though his grandma said her mother was a lot more “foolish with her knowledge” than he was, whatever that meant. 

In truth, Yakko had known his grandmother his whole life, and he still didn’t know what to make of her. Sure, his mom and dad constantly contradicted her or told him she was wrong, but Yakko wasn’t sure. A lot of what his grandmother said made sense, as far as he could tell. A good king should be focused on expanding his knowledge and on his people, not on frivolities like playing with toys or with his little brother. It just made sense. 

Speaking of his brother… 

“Yakko! Which is cooler? Red or blue?” Wakko shoved his toy soldier’s into his brother’s face. Yakko rolled his eyes. 

“Wakko, I don’t care,” He scoffed. Wakko frowned. 

“But how will you play then?” Wakko asked. 

“Wakko, I don’t _want_ to play, I have my lesson with Grandma soon,” Yakko said, turning the page in his book. 

“So we should play nowwww,” Wakko whined, placing the toys on his book. 

“Wakko, _go away_ , I’m studying” Yakko huffed in annoyance, pushing the toys off of the book. Wakko sighed, taking back his toys, but instead of going away, he pulled out a chair and sat next to his brother. 

“Whatcha readin’?” He asked. 

“I’m reading about the history of agriculture in Warnerstock,” Yakko stated, figuring there was no harm in telling him, and that maybe it might make him go away. 

“Is it good?” Wakko asked with a head tilt. Yakko paused to think. 

“Ehhhhh…. it’s…. okay?” He shrugged, though he knew the answer was no. It was boring, but one of his tutors assigned it, so he had to read it. Yakko then went on with his reading. However, it wasn’t long before Wakko got bored just sitting there, so he stood on the chair, and peered over Yakko’s shoulder. Yakko did his best to ignore it, but, quite frankly, his brother was driving him insane. 

“Oh, would you look at that! I have to go,” Yakko slammed the book shut and stood, almost knocking over Wakko in the process. 

“Can I come?” Wakko asked optimistically. Yakko rubbed his forehead. No matter what he did he just couldn’t shake him. 

“You know Grandma doesn’t like it when you sit in,” Yakko said, standing up and heading out of the study. Wakko followed anyway.

“I can be good this time! Promise!” He said. Yakko shook his head. 

“Go to your room, Wak, I’m sure mom or dad would love to play instead,” Yakko waved him off. 

“Pretty please? I swear I’ll be quiet,” Wakko pleaded. Yakko did his best to keep his eyes forward, but made the fatal flaw of making split-second eye contact with his younger brother, and saw the puppy dog eyes nobody with a soul could refuse. 

“Fine,” Yakko sighed. “Just… sit in the corner and be sure to be extra, extra quiet,” He said. Wakko cheered and ran ahead of Yakko in his excitement to their grandmother’s private study. Yakko eventually made it, and knocked on the door. 

“Yakko, you’re early today,” Angelina the First opened the door. Immediately her eyes went to Wakko. 

“What is he doing here?” She asked. Wakko stepped behind his brother. 

“He just wants to sit in the corner. He’s promised me he’ll be quiet,” Yakko said. 

“Is this true?” The old queen looked at her youngest grandson. Wakko nodded. She rolled her eyes. 

“If I ask you a question, you are to respond, understood?” She glared at him. Wakko gulped. 

“Y-yes, grandma,” He said. The queen rolled her eyes and stepped aside, letting the brothers enter. 

Yakko took his seat at the center table, and Wakko sat in the corner, next to a bunch of dusty books that hadn’t been touched in goodness knew how long. Hopefully, that would keep him quiet and entertained. 

“Now where were we… ah yes, etiquette,” Angelina the First found the book she was looking for and opened it. 

“A good gentlemen always holds the door open for a lady, why is this?” She asked Yakko. 

“Because their dresses can be too big for them to get it themselves,” Yakko said. The queen nodded. 

“That stupid, why don’t they just fix the dresses?” Wakko mumbled in the corner. 

“Excuse me?” The queen looked at him. Wakko immediately shut up, and faced the bookshelf, running his finger across all the spines. She huffed but decided to move on with the lesson anyway. 

Angelina the First continued to quiz Yakko on his knowledge of etiquette, and of which he aced, and to Yakko’s surprise Wakko was actually behaving himself back there. She then regaled tales of Warnerstocks history, most of it being boring but a few were… less boring here and there. Yakko did his best to pay attention anyway. History was arguably the most bearable of the subjects, though he preferred when it was about geography more. 

However, towards the end of the lesson, the queen started lecturing about her grandfather, King Reginald the 2nd, and how he failed due to his love of frivolous things, such as gold, jewels, and never bothered to do his work as king, playing around with his “playthings” all day instead.

“And that is why as you prepare to become king it is important to put your studies and learning above all else. A wise king is a good king. You don’t want all of your knowledge to be based on what toy you think is the best, do you?” She said, as some sort of joke.

“That’s stupid too!” Wakko crossed his arms. 

“Excuse me, young man, you have no right to talk to me like that,” Angelina the First stood from her chair. 

“Grandma, he doesn’t know-”

“No! I do! That’s stupid!” Wakko stood on his chair. “Yakko should play games if he wants to. Games are fun. Books are boring.”

“Wakkorotti Alan Warner, _know your place_ ,” She warned. 

“Games are fun, you and your lessons are stupid and boring!” He shouted. Angelina’s eyes widened in anger. Slowly, she took her gloves off, before walking over to the now petrified Wakko. 

“Grandma he didn’t mean-” Yakko tried to plead. 

“I’ll give you one more chance, Wakkorotti. What. Did. You. Say?” She asked, now standing in front of the four-year-old. 

“Th-that… that your lessons are boring and stupid,” Wakko didn’t back down. Before either brother knew what was happening, she struck him across the face with the back of her hand. Wakko fell onto the floor with a loud crash. 

“Wakko!” Yakko jumped out of his seat and ran to his little brother, but Angelina I held out her arm. 

“Leave him there, he needs to learn, She said coldly. Yakko growled and _bit her._

 _“Ow!_ You horrible, _horrible_ child!” Angelina jumped back. Yakko didn’t care, going to Wakko. 

“Wakko? Are you okay?” He asked, panicking because Wakko was barely conscious. 

“M’head hurts,” he mumbled, sitting up. That was kinda good at least… 

“You’ll be punished for this,” Angelina grabbed Yakko’s shoulder and Yakko gnashed his teeth again. The queen wisely stepped back. 

“C’mon Wak, let’s get you fixed up,” Yakko said, helping him up. 

“Rabid sons of a bastard,” The old queen muttered as they walked by, rubbing the bite marks that were on the verge of bleeding. It was far less than she deserved, so Yakko glared at her once more before leaving. 

The brothers walked in silence as they headed off to the kitchen for ice, not knowing what to say about what had happened. Eventually, though, Wakko gave it a shot. 

“I’m sorry I ruined your lesson, Yakko,” He apologized. 

Yakko sighed. “It’s not your fault Wakko, she never should’ve hit you.”

“Grandma is a meanie,” He sniffled, rubbing his fresh bruise. 

“I couldn’t agree more,” Yakko said and meant it. 

In truth, as they were walking Yakko noticed how much of a jerk he was before. He brushed him off and for what? Stuffy lessons with a snappy old lady? Now he knew why his parents always contradicted her. They probably trying to prevent something like _this_ from ever happening. 

“I’m sorry too, Wak,” He said. “I’ve been a meanie to you too.”

“S’okay. I forgive you,” Wakko smiled at Yakko, and Yakko cringed at the sight of his bruise, which was only increasing in size. Thankfully, they were almost at the kitchen by now. 

After a short moment of silence, they eventually reached it and Yakko slowly opened the door before peering inside, and upon finding it empty, he opened the door all the way and him and Wakko got in and went towards the back where the freezer was. 

“Yakko? Wakko? What are you two doing here?” Yakko froze when he heard his mother’s voice. He internally facepalmed, realizing he forgot the spice racks blocked the view of the other half of the kitchen from the door. 

“Mummy!” Wakko ran to her and she and William gasped. 

“Wakko, what happened to your face?” She asked as he hugged her leg. 

“Grandmummy got mad and-”

“Grandma did this to you?!” Lena asked, a mix of concern and rage in her voice. 

“Lena…” William warned, placing a soft hand on her shoulder. Lena took in a deep breath. 

“What happened?” William asked Yakko. 

“Well Wakko wanted to sit in during my lesson with her, and he said her lesson was stupid and she got mad…” Yakko kicked the ground. 

“Oh, I’ll kill her,” Angelina growled, looking at the door. 

“Lena, deep breaths,” William reminded, though he looked angry too. Their mother obeyed, though still obviously very upset. 

“I’m so sorry Wakko, dearest. Here- let’s get some ice on that bruise,” She said, with a soft smile, taking Wakko’s hand and taking him to the back. 

“Is that the full story?” William asked. Yakko nodded. 

“He said it was stupid grandma thought that good princes and kings don’t play with toys or have fun,” Yakko said. 

“Your grandmother is wrong about that, and a great number of things,” William sighed. Yakko nodded. 

“…I bit her,” he whispered. William blinked. 

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” He asked, not quite sure if he heard it right. 

“I bit her, after she hit Wakko and he fell, I bit her, right in the arm,” Yakko confessed. 

William thought about that for a moment. 

“Everything alright?” Lena asked, reentering with Wakko, who now had a bag of ice in his hand. 

“Yakko bit your mother,” William explained and Lena gasped. 

“Are you alright?” She asked him. Yakko nodded. 

“A-after she hit Wakko I wanted to check on him but she wouldn’t let me so I bit her,” He explained. Lena sighed a breath of relief. 

“That’s good dear… just… never do that again. The last thing either of us wants is for either of you two to get hurt, understood?” She asked. The boys nodded.

“Good,” she bent down and gave both of them a tight hug. “Now go play. Your father and I will have to have a long discussion with your grandmother later,” She said, looking back at William. 

“Yay! Let’s go!” Wakko pulled on his brother’s arm, dragging him out of the kitchen.

“See, why didn’t I ever think of doing that?” was the last thing he heard his mother mutter to herself before getting dragged out. 

Eventually, they made it back to the playroom, and Wakko immediately grabbed his toys and began playing with them, while Yakko bit his lip, unsure of what to do. It felt like forever since he played with dolls and toy soldiers, did he even know how to? Did Wakko even want him to play anymore? 

Wakko seemed hesitant too, as when he noticed his brother’s awkward standing, he stopped and looked at him. 

“Do you… wanna play with me?” He asked. Yakko nodded. 

“I do,” he said. Wakko smiled and handed him a prince doll. 

And so, for the rest of the afternoon, the two brothers played game after game, weaving intricate stories all of their own with brave princes, dragons, daring fights, and evil queens they slew together, always having each other’s back no matter what. 

And it was true, from that moment on, Yakko swore to always have his brother’s back, and more importantly, to never become what his grandmother wanted of him. She could rot for all he cared, he’d never let anyone hurt his little sib ever again,

That, he promised. 


	4. Mother Knows Best

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Princess Lena goes to tell her mother off for hurting her precious baby boy

To say Princess Angelina II was furious at her mother’s actions would be a massive understatement. 

Her heart broke upon seeing her precious little boy with an all too familiar bruise on his cheek. She could even see where her mother’s ring had hit specifically. Her mother was petty like that- she’d take off her gloves and be sure to strike with her wedding hand, it hurt more. However, it didn’t seem to break his spirit, which made her happy. 

She wouldn’t let her mother have a shot at survival if she broke him as she did to her. 

“Lena, darling, you need to breathe,” William pleaded with her as they stormed through the castle towards Angelina I’s private study. 

“I am breathing, I’m just furious,” She said, before stopping and actually taking a deep breath. 

“Sorry it’s just- you know… hormones,” She sighed, rubbing her forehead. 

“I know Lena, I know,” William put a soft hand on her shoulder and stroked it with his thumb. 

“I’m going to kill her, you know?” She said. 

“As much as I want to kill her too, you know we can’t. It’s treason, and we’d be killed too,” William pointed out quietly. 

“I know,” Lena hugged him. William kissed the top of her head. 

“I’m still gonna kill her- let’s go,” Lena said, her anger resurfacing. William didn’t argue this time and followed his wife’s lead. 

They reached the door to Angelina I’s private study but found she wasn’t there. With a huff, they then went to the next best place: the throne room. And lo and behold, there she was. 

“There you are, Angelina darling, I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” The queen said coldly, waving away a servant who was showing her the new curtains. 

“How _dare_ you hit my son. You had absolutely no right,” Lena glared. 

“The amount of disrespect that poor excuse of a prince and blood relative has is pathetic. And here I thought you two might have not totally failed with Yakko, and yet here I am,” She glared, showing the bandages on her arm underneath her glove. Lena growled. 

“Whether or not you like him he’s our son, and you can’t lay a finger on him,” Lena said. 

“I’m queen, I can do whatever I want with those disgusting bastards,” Angelina stood. 

“Why you no good-” Lena just about pounced, but William grabbed her arm before she could. 

“You’re more emotional than usual,” Angelina remarked. “How many months?”

“That’s none of your business,” Lena gnashed her teeth, and William was forced to restrain her differently, but he was giving his mother-in-law glares of his own.

“Do you forget I’m still the queen of this castle, Angie?” Angelina took off her gloves. “Everything that happens here is my business.” 

“Oh don’t you _dare_ ,” Lena glared at the sound of her mother’s ‘nickname’ for her. 

“Then answer me,” The queen demanded, but Lena went silent. 

“Always such a chatterbox, until I actually want something from you,” Angelina rolled her eyes. 

“Oh well, I suppose it doesn’t matter. It’s good to have backups in case Yakko’s training backfires,” She shrugged. 

“Backfires? What do you mean by that?” Lena asked. 

“He _bit_ me, Angelina. You can do basic math,” She rolled her eyes and sat back down on her throne. 

“Then perhaps it’s best we make sure you never have to see either of them ever again,” William suggested. “We’ll have tutors take over the rest of their education and-”

“No.” She interrupted. “I very much will still be teaching Yakko.”

“Why? You hate him,” Lena clenched her fist. 

“Yes, but he still needs those lessons… and I just found the perfect motivation,” the queen said, a glimmer in her eye. Lena and William shared a look. 

“Well, we won’t let you be alone with him. Or either- or any of them. Someone will always be with them,” Lena declared. 

“You keep forgetting _I’m_ the one in charge here,” Angelina argued. “I control all of the servants here, not you.”

“Then William and I will be there. You can’t control us,” Lena fought back.

“With another child on the way? Please,” The queen laughed. 

“But fine, if you’re so dead serious, I’ll have a maid or servant watch me, or whatever you two think you’ll be doing by having someone there,” She rolled her eyes. 

“A-and we won’t let you see Wakko either,” Lena said. 

“Wakkorotti? Please, if I wanted to see a filthy, rabid animal I’d go to the woods,” Angelina waved it off. Lena just about pounced on her again, but William held her back. 

“And we won’t let you see the baby, whenever they’re born,” Lena added. Angelina glared at that. 

“You can’t protect them from me forever, Angelina. Accidents do happen,” The old queen warned. Lena and William froze. 

Angelina smiled. 

“It’s good that you two have something in those thick skulls of yours. Now run along to those ‘children’ of yours. I’m finished,” She waved her hand. However, Lena stayed there, glaring at her mother, trying to think of something to say to her, but coming up completely blank. 

“C’mon Lena, let’s go,” William whispered to her eventually, still glaring at the queen. Slowly, he put his hand on her shoulder, and they started to go, but Lena spun around. 

“What do I have to do to get you to leave them alone?” Lena pleaded, her eyes filling with tears. 

“Lena-” William said, but the queen interrupted. 

“Nothing _can_ be done, Lena. You agreed to this the day you married that… _filth-_ ” She glared at William, “-whether you were aware or not.”

“Please mother, I-i’ll do anything,” She begged. The queen shook her head.

“You dug your grave all by yourself, Angelina. Now lie in it.”

With that, she waved them off once more, and William understood that they definitely had to leave now. Slowly, he grabbed her shoulders once more, and together they walked out of the throne room. 

“William- i-i-” Lena was choking on her tears. 

“I know Lena, I know,” He closed his eyes, tears of his own escaping. Quickly, the two of them made it to their bedroom, and once they closed the door, Angelina quickly broke down sobbing on their bed. William sat next to his wife and held her. 

“I hate her William, I-i do!” She sobbed. 

“I hate her too,” He agreed. “She’s a horrible, horrible person.”

“I-i just want them to be s-safe and happy… is that too much to ask?” She looked into his eyes. 

“It isn’t Lena,” He cried and wiped away the tears from her eyes, but she went back to hugging him. 

Together, they cried, and cried, and cried, and cried, Lena, getting sick a few times. Still, they remained together and embracing each other, doing their best to support each other, despite the feeling of utter hopelessness surrounding them. 

They really, _really_ hated the queen.

They stayed like that on the for what felt an eternity, though neither could really say how long. Time seems to slip when one feels like the world is falling apart. They cried, and cried, and cried and cried, and Lena got sick a few times. 

However, soon enough they recognized it was time for them to fetch the boys and go to dinner. So, calmly they freshened up, and William took Lena’s arm and they walked back to the playroom, surprised to find that Yakko was still playing with his younger brother. 

“Boys, it’s time for dinner,” Angelina said softly. 

“Yay! I’m starving,” Wakko bounced up, setting his toys down. 

“Me too,” Yakko laughed and set his down as well. 

“Neither of you gets to eat until you clean this up, remember?” William reminded, and the boys quickly got to putting things away. 

“They’ll be okay… right?” Lena asked. 

“Of course, the boys are resilient, as are you” William smiled tiredly at her. She set his head on his shoulder. 

“I’m tired of being resilient. Sometimes I just want to give up,” She whispered. 

“But you won’t. I know you Lena, and you are not a quitter,” He said. 

“It’s okay to feel hopeless, and to cry for hours and hours, but you can’t quit, Lena. We love you,” He kissed her head. Lena sighed. 

“I hate that you’re always right,” She closed her eyes. 

“I love you, Lena,” He said. 

“I love you too, William,” She smiled softly, kissing him on the cheek. 

“You boys all cleaned up?” She then asked. Yakko and Wakko nodded. 

“Good. Let’s go eat then,” She smiled, and together they walked to the dining hall and had a fairly good meal, filled with laughter and good times, and for a moment everything felt right with the world. 

Despite being trapped in this situation, they had each other to depend on, and that made everything feel okay.


	5. Prince Wakkorotti

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Queen Angelina the First's words have consequences. 
> 
> (chapter starts w/ a flashback, then returns to normal).

“Just one more push, your highness, then this’ll all be over,” the doctor instructed the exhausted princess. 

“Why did we ever agree to have a second child,” Lena panted and lamented her husband. 

“C’mon Lena, you’re almost done. You’re doing wonderfully,” William kissed her head. 

“Easy for you to say, you’re just the observer,” Lena rolled her eyes, but as she felt another contraction crash over her, she did as she was told, and gave one more final push, instantly collapsing back onto her pillows once she was done. 

“Good job, my love,” William smiled and kissed her again, but a deathly silence filled the room. 

“Wh-what’s the matter? Wh-why aren’t they crying? A-are they even breathing?” Lena asked as she saw the doctor rush the baby away. “W-william, what’s happening?” She looked up at him, but he looked just as frightened as she was. He cautiously wrapped an arm around her. 

“A-are they alright? A-answer me, dammit,” she demanded, tears falling down her face. She heard the doctor and nurses whisper a few things as they attempted to fix whatever issue it was (as they clearly weren’t willing to clarify).

_This couldn’t be happening._

“Please…” she whispered aloud. 

There was another long stretch of silence, and then-

The baby cried. 

Everyone in the room let out a sigh of relief, and in a few moments, the new royal baby was in the arms of the princess, now sobbing tears of joy instead. 

“Congratulations, your highnesses. It’s a boy,” the doctor said with a smile, but William and Lena were too happy and crying to really notice what he had said. 

“He’s okay,” Lena said, and William squeezed her a little, and touched the new baby’s face softly. 

“He’s perfect, Lena,” He smiled. 

“I’m never, ever going to let go of him,” She declared. “I’m simply going to hold him for forever and ever and ever and ever.” Nobody argued. 

“I’ll never let anything bad happen to him… he’ll be safe, and with me,” she swore. William nodded, silently taking the vow himself. 

“Do you have a name for the prince?” One of the nurses asked. Lena and William looked at each other. 

“Wakkorotti, like the performer- but we’d call him Wakko for short,” Lena said. 

“With the middle name Alan, like my father,” William added. 

“A perfect name for a perfect prince,” She smiled, and kissed her baby’s forehead. 

However, Lena and William didn’t have too long to themselves, before none other than Angelina and Yakko entered the room, with Yakko immediately running onto the bed. 

“Is that my baby brother?” He asked cheerfully. Lena giggled and nodded. 

“Do be quiet though, he is a baby,” She reminded the four-and-a-half-year-old. 

“He’s a rather tiny thing, isn’t he?” The queen observed. 

“Why are you here, mother?” Lena didn’t have the patience for her mother’s games. 

“Why do you act like my grandchildren aren’t important to me?” she said, placing a hand on Yakko’s shoulder. Yakko didn’t mind, utterly entranced at the sight of his new sibling. William rolled his eyes. 

“Well, it was nice of you to come by,” He wiped his eyes. “You can go now, though.”

“I will do as I please, thank you very much,” Angelina glared at him. 

“He seems weak,” she remarked once more. 

“If all you’re going to do is criticize a _newborn_ , I suggest you leave,” Lena growled. 

“You know I’ve always said it’s good to have backups, but I’m not quite sure this one would even be adequate enough to qualify,” Angelina didn’t stop. 

“That’s enough, mother,” Lena said. 

“I’m just-”

“I said _enough_ ,” She snapped. Angelina paused. 

“You’re lucky I feel pity for you and the weakling,” She said, before turning and exiting. 

“Is he okay, mommy?” Yakko asked. 

“He’s perfect,” Lena smiled once more, and looked back at Wakko. 

“Why is he so tiny?” He asked again. 

“All babies are tiny, Yakko. You were once that small too,” William explained. Yakko “ooh”ed in fascination. 

“That’s cool,” he gave his dad a toothy grin. He continued to stare at him for a moment, before pausing and frowning. 

“Are you gonna forget about me?” he asked softly. 

“Of course not honey,” Lena reassured. “We would never forget about you just because we have a baby now.”

“We love you very much Yakko,” William placed a hand on his elder son’s shoulder. Yakko nuzzled his face on it. 

“And it’ll be part of your responsibilities to watch and care for him too, you know,” Lena said with a soft smile. 

“Really?” Yakko gasped. 

“Yep! As big brother, you have to make sure to always have his back and keep him safe when we aren’t around,” William explained. 

“Cool,” Yakko accepted the new responsibility. 

“He’s not a weakling, right?” He asked. 

“Of course not, honey. Your grandmother is wrong about that,” Lena quickly said. That was _not_ something she was going to let her plant into his brain. 

“Okay,” He happily agreed, but Lena and William shared a look, knowing it wouldn’t be too long before he started his lessons and well- if ideas were already starting to take root…

No. Yakko would be fine. He was better than that. He was very sweet, he’d never be outright cruel or mean like his grandmother likely wanted him to be. When the time came, he’d make the right decisions. 

And so the family carried on, and Yakko did eventually start up his lessons with his grandmother, and Lena and William did their best to counteract them as they could, but it wasn’t easy. Angelina was tricky like that. 

And in the meantime, Wakkorotti (or just Wakko) was growing up into quite the wild child. He loved to run around- sometimes on all fours. He loved to chew on things, make mud pies, many other “improper behaviors” according to his grandmother. However, for the most part, Lena and William were good at keeping him away from her, being more protective over him than they were with Yakko. 

Still. That never stopped the little prince from getting into trouble anyway. 

“Wakko, what are you chewing on?” Lena looked up from her book, her maternal instincts kicking in. Wakko didn’t respond. 

“Wakko…” She said in a warning tone, looking at him, before gasping and realizing he was chewing on a book from her mother’s study she had given to Yakko for her or William to read to him. 

“Wakko, drop that now.” she ordered, panicked. Confused at her urgency, he dropped it immediately, and Lena quickly bent over and took the papers from him. 

“Remember what I said? We don’t chew on books. You can chew on your toys instead,” Lena reminded him softly. 

“Sorry mummy,” he apologized. Lena sighed tiredly. 

“It’ll be alright, let’s just get it fixed before-”

A knock on the nursery door interrupted her sentence, and before she knew it, her mother entered the room. 

“Angelina, it turns out I need-” The queen stopped midthought when she noticed Lena was holding the book, which was covered in teeth marks and slobber. 

“You let _him_ get to it?” She gave a look of disgust at her grandson. 

“Wakko, get behind me,” Lena stood from her rocking chair, and Wakko obeyed, scurrying behind the safety of his mother. 

“That ‘son’ of yours is no better than a goat in a barn,” Angelina shook her head. “Though even a lowly goat is more intelligent than him.”

“He’s four, mother, have some mercy,” Lena responded. 

“Mercy is for those who deserve it, not for stupid, filthy animals,” Angelina rolled her eyes. 

“That book was supposed to be for Yakko’s lessons.” she looked at Wakko. “He’s going to be important one day, unlike you. Your job is to simply sit on the sidelines and be civilized, but you can’t even do that, can you?” she glared. 

“That’s enough, mother,” Lena warned, stepping in front of Wakko to block his vision. 

“Don’t act like you’re so tough, Angelina,” she warned. “I know your weaknesses too. The Tower is still plenty functional.” 

Lena didn’t break. 

“Well now… seeing as you’ve ruined a perfectly good book of mine, I suppose I’ll just be leaving this here then,” Angelina rolled her eyes and pulled out a toy bunny from her dress pocket. “I think one of them left it in my study, and I can’t fathom as to why.”

“That’s- that’s Yakko’s bunny. I haven’t seen that in years… why did you have it? He missed it so,” Lena took the toy from her. 

“Toys are for fools, of which Yakko is not,” She remarked. 

“Toys are for children, of which Yakko is,” Lena replied coldly. 

“Of course you’d think that,” The queen sighed. 

“Well… seeing as I have no more use of the two of you, I’ll be taking my leave now,” She nodded and left. Lena rolled her eyes before turning around. 

“Are you alright dear?” Lena asked Wakko. Wakko sniffled, holding back tears. 

“M’fine,” he said. Lena wrapped him in a quick hug. 

“I’m going to give this to Yakko- his sword lesson with his father should be done soon,” Lena looked at the clock in the room. “Will you be okay waiting in here a moment?”

Wakko nodded. 

“Good,” she kissed his forehead. “Yakko will be right here in a moment. I’m afraid I have to go- I’m not feeling well. You’ll stay right in here though, right?” She asked with a soft smile. 

Wakko nodded once more.

“Good,” she gave him another hug. 

“I love you,” She said, and left the playroom in a rush. Wakko didn’t have the slightest clue as to why, but he was fine with waiting in the playroom. It was his favorite place to be. 

However, his grandmother’s words played on repeat in his head, and for some reason, he couldn’t get it out. 

She said he was a wild and filthy animal. That wasn’t true. He took baths, though he did have a tendency to get dirty at times… but that was because it was fun. Fun things aren’t bad… right?

Wakko wasn’t any more an animal than his grandmother was, that’s what Daddo would say. 

Still… Grandmum was scary. She was mean and old and wrinkly and her stares were mean. He didn’t like how it felt when she looked at him. 

Thinking about it made his eyes fill with tears, and before he knew it, he crawled under the playroom table and began to cry. 

He wasn’t stupid… was he?

He had been told several times not to chew on books or things that weren’t his, especially if they were his grandmother’s. He should’ve paid more attention. Stupid people don’t pay attention…

“Wakko? Where are you?” Without Wakko realizing, Yakko had entered the room. Still, Wakko was in the middle of crying and wasn’t going to stop now. 

“Wakko? Are you crying?” Yakko asked, looking around for him, until he eventually found him under the table. 

“Hey… it’s okay,” Yakko said, crawling under the table and joining him, giving him a tight hug. 

“I-I’m not stupid, r-right?” Wakko sniffled. 

“Of course not, Wak,” Yakko reassured. “You’re smart.”

“B-but I don’t read o-or talk like you,” he pouted. 

“Dad said being slow isn’t stupid, so you aren’t stupid,” Yakko let go and pointed out. 

“Did Grandma tell you that?” He asked. Wakko nodded sadly. 

“Grandma is wrong about you,” He said. “She doesn’t like you for no reason, but she should like you. You’re really fun.”

“I am?” Wakko perked up a little. Yakko nodded. 

“You make up the best games and stories,” He grinned. “Plus, you’re pretty cute too. I don’t know many people who can refuse those puppy dog eyes.”

“Thanks, Yakko!” Wakko beamed and gave his brother a hug. “You’re a good older sib.”

“No problem, Wak,” he chuckled. “Let’s play now, I have to go to my lesson in a half-hour.”

“But that’s so sooooooooon. I’ll die of boredommmmmm,” He pouted.

“I know, but you know you can’t sit in. I don’t need to remind you of last time…” Yakko said, and Wakko looked at the floor. 

“Okay…” he sighed. Yakko bit his lip. 

“Oh! I have an idea!” He snapped his fingers. Quickly, he crawled out under the table and grabbed his toy bunny and crawled back under. 

“While I’m at my lessons you can have this,” he said, handing it to him. 

“But mum said it’s yours,” Wakko frowned. 

“I don’t mind parting with Bugs if it’ll make you feel better,” Yakko smiled.

“You mean it?” Wakko’s face lit up. 

“Of course. Bugs has brought me a lot of comfort, I’m sure he can do the same for you,” Yakko said. “Plus, Grandma doesn’t like him much, so he’ll need someone to watch over him too. Are you up to the challenge?” 

“Yeah!” Wakko agreed enthusiastically, and Yakko handed him the stuffed bunny. 

“I’ll protect him with my life,” he promised. Yakko snorted. 

“I know you will,” he elbowed him lightly. 

“Now… can we crawl out of here and get to playing? I’m a lot taller than you and it is cramped under here,” he joked. 

Wakko nodded, and together the brothers crawled out from under the table and began to properly play their silly little games to the fullest they could, and when their thirty minutes was over, Wakko was happily waiting and watching over Yakko’s bunny, Bugs, promising to make sure the bunny didn’t feel lonely and that he always had someone to watch over and protect him, like how he had Yakko. 

Wakko was the luckiest little brother in the world.


	6. Grandmother Knows Best

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yakko returns to his lessons with his grandmother after she hit Wakko, and tries to come up with a plan to get back at her.

Yakko wasn’t one to use the word “hate” lightly, but he could say with all the confidence in the world that he hated his grandmother.

At first, he had been willing to give her a shot. After all, she was his grandmother and people were supposed to respect their elders and those they were related to. He had been willing to listen, to take part in her lessons, and see if what she said made a little bit of sense.

However, the moment she hit Wakko, all of his respect for her evaporated.

He lashed out and bit her. He didn’t think when he did it, but afterward, he had no regrets. It was only fair.

Sure, his mother told him he shouldn’t do something like that ever again, but Yakko knew that if she were to try and lay a finger on Wakko ever again, he wouldn’t hesitate. After all, it was his dad who told him an older brother’s job was to protect. 

So, naturally, when his mom informed him that he still had to take lessons with his grandmother, he was upset. However, his mother reminded him that none of them really had a say in it and Yakko understood it was just something he was going to have to do, especially when he saw the pain in her eyes. He didn’t want her to worry about him any more than she already did, so he agreed to do it. 

However, that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to do this his way. 

“Remember what we said: you aren’t going to try anything with your grandmother,” his father practically read his mind. 

“Why not?” Yakko sighed dramatically. “She deserves it.”

“Because we care about you very much and don’t want what happened to Wakko to happen to you,” William explained softly. 

“So no biting?” He asked. 

“Definitely no biting. Her arm is still healing from last time,” Willaim suppressed a chuckle. 

“Just… remember, it’s often better to fight with the pen rather than the sword. Much less blood is spilled that way,” William said. 

“So… you’re saying it’s never okay to bite?” Yakko asked. 

“Not exactly… there are certain situations…” William said cautiously. “It’s just… your grandmother is one who prefers the sword over pen, and it causes people to fear and hate her, and none of the issues actually get solved,” he explained. Yakko nodded. 

“But that’s not to say there aren’t moments where your hand is forced… like, for example, if invaders were in the castle and people were attacking. Then it’s okay. Self-defense is perfectly fine,” William said, nodding to himself. 

“Or if someone were to attack Wakko?” Yakko suggested. William caught onto what he was doing and smiled a little. 

“Or if someone was attacking Wakko, that’d be alright too,” He winked. 

“I’m not saying what you did was wrong, Yakko. I’m just saying that there’s a very large risk factor in attacking your grandmother. Whether or not we like it, she’s in charge, and if you attack her she’ll likely attack back. That’s why words are better than getting physical with her, because no matter what, you won’t be ready for those consequences,” William explained, and Yakko finally understood. 

“Okay… I won’t bite her,” He said. William gave him a side hug as they finally arrived at Angelina’s study. 

“Well… we told her we wanted someone to go in with you at all times, but seeing as she has no respect for us or our wishes, there probably won’t be,” He sighed. “But you’ll be on your best behavior, correct?” 

“As best as I can,” he chose his words carefully, still intent on doing it his way. 

“Good,” William smiled. “You’ll be alright then, won’t you?” 

“Bye dad,” Yakko gave his dad a hug before going in. 

“Yakko. There you are,” Angelina looked at him with an unsettling smile.

“Here I am,” He said, not knowing how to respond, and he quickly sat in his usual spot. 

“We’ll begin with dining etiquette- What are-?”

“Salad, then dinner on the left. Salad knife, spoon, soup spoon, then oyster fork on the right,” He grinned. 

“That wasn’t what-”

“Oh! Hors d’oeuvres, amuse-bouche, soup, appetizer, salad, fish, first main course, palate cleanser, second main course, cheese, dessert, and mignardise,” He listed off. Angelina shot him a look. 

“Your impertinence is dually noted, Yakko. Don’t think I don’t see what you’re doing,” She said. 

“Whatever do you mean? That was what you were going to ask me, was it not?” He said. Angelina huffed. 

“It’s not proper to-”

“-to speak over one’s advisor, yes, but I argue that this is a much more efficient way to get through lessons,” he shrugged. 

“I’d argue otherwise,” She said dryly. “Now, how do you-”

“Fan folds are done by folding a large square napkin in half to create a rectangle, creating pleats, then folding in half again so pleats are on top, then folding upper left corner down and tucking behind the center pleat, which creates a triangle, then releasing and letting the pleats fan out,” He said with his eyes closed. “However, I don’t really know why you’d want me to know such things, as napkin folding is traditionally done by servants of the castle and not done by the host.” 

“I instructed you to only read until the third chapter,” Angelina pointed out. 

“Why? So you’d set me up for failure so I wouldn’t know anything of what you were going to quiz me about?” Yakko smirked. 

“You forget who you are speaking to,” Angelina’s eye twitched. 

“I’m speaking to the queen, am I not? Or is the real queen somewhere hidden, because that would explain quite a few things-”

“That is enough, _Yakko_ ,” she glared, and Yakko wisely pulled back. 

“Well, seeing as your already so far ahead, why don’t I quiz you on your knowledge of history instead. What can you tell me about King Winston?”

“He’s dead,” Yakko said. 

“No-”

“He’s alive? Why isn’t he in charge then?” Yakko looked around the room. 

“No, he’s not-”

“Make up your mind, is the man dead or alive? Goodness,” He shook his head. 

The queen growled. “Did your mother put you up to this?” she asked, borderline fuming. Yakko raised an eyebrow and shook his head. 

“Don’t lie to me, boy. I’d recognize that smartassery anywhere,” She glared. “If that impertinent child doesn’t stop, I swear-”

“No! I did this all on my own,” He quickly said. “Mom had nothing to do with this.”

“Trying to be the hero now?” She raised an eyebrow, before a little smile grew on her face. 

“Perhaps this will get you to pay attention then,” She said, going to one of the shelves and selecting a book. Yakko bit his lip nervously. 

“Tell me, Yakko, what do you see here?” she said, showing him an illustration in the book. 

“A really tall tower? Why are you showing me that?” He questioned. 

“It’s a special room in the castle for those who disobey my orders. However, seeing as you love to play hero, if you don’t stop with the smart talk, I’ll throw your little brother or maybe even your mother in there for a week with no food,” She explained coldly. 

“You wouldn’t do that to your own daughter,” He said. 

“I’ve done far worse than your little head can imagine,” She said, taking the book from his hands. 

Yakko felt a wave of empathy for his mother. 

“So… are you going to let me talk now? Or are you going to continue with the smart talk and have your brother and mother punished?” She grinned. 

“Dad would free them. He’s strong,” Yakko pointed out. 

“Oh? So you’re saying I should lock him in the dungeon underground while they remain above? What a splendid idea,” Her eyes shone. 

“No!” He protested. 

“Then do we have an agreement?” She asked. Yakko bit his lip once more, partially considering just biting her again. If he could just even the playing field just a little bit…

 _“Whether or not we like it, she’s in charge, and if you attack her she’ll likely attack back,”_ His father’s words from earlier rang in his mind. He probably should’ve listened so this threat wouldn’t have happened. Yakko sighed. 

“Yes,” He said, taking a silent vow to make up for this minor setback in any way he could- to attempt to lower the playing field just a smidge. 

“Good,” She smiled. “Let’s return…”

Queen Angelina then began to lecture, and Yakko stopped paying attention. Instead, he thought about what to do next. 

Perhaps him and Wakko could set up elaborate pranks around the castle, and watch her go mad trying to figure out who did it. 

No, she’d probably know it was the only two children in the castle, and Wakko would be punished. 

Maybe he could talk back in a more subtle way.

No, that was him trying to be subtle. It was very clearly not his strength. 

Maybe he could try talking her into giving him different tutors?

That wasn’t likely to work, as she made it clear from day one she was to be in charge. 

Maybe if he let her choose?

No, she’d never agree to that much. 

He was stuck with her. For the moment anyway… perhaps he’d think of something better in time when she cooled down and wasn’t expecting anything. 

Yes, that was what he’d do; wait a month or two for her to relax, act like her perfect little prince, and then start back with the quips, but not too strong like today. He’d work on his “i’m not technically wrong” strategy too, it clearly needed work. 

Yes, that’d work. Maybe if he wore her out or drove her insane over time she’d leave him and his family alone. 

He could only hope anyway. 

Yakko sighed, feeling bad for his mom and dad. This whole protector business was hard work, and they’ve been doing it as long as he’s been alive. 

That was why he had to do it though, they deserved a break. Yakko could handle the responsibility. 

He was going to wear her out so slowly but effectively she would no longer want anything to do with any of them, and then they could all be happy and his parents would never have to worry about her ever again, not if he had anything to say about it. 

After all, it’s a big brother’s job to watch over and protect, and that was what Yakko intended to do.


	7. Princess Dot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dot is born, and Angelina makes her intentions clear once again. 
> 
> A few years pass then, and Wakko and Dot find themselves in serious trouble.

Princess Angelina II and William had already had two boys, so it was safe to say that when they announced their third pregnancy, everyone assumed it would be another prince. 

And so, it was easy to imagine the surprise on William and Lena’s faces when the doctor handed them their beautiful baby girl. 

“A girl, William…” Lena looked at her new baby softly. “Did we ever think of a name for a girl?” She realized, looking back at William. 

“Let me see… there was Giselle, Lucy, Dorothy… Cecilia, I think? Or we could stick with flowers? Like Daisy, Violet, Lily, Yasmine, etc?” William said. Lena looked at her daughter and thought hard. 

“Dorothy is nice… but what if we shortened it to something… simpler. Like- like Dot,” Lena suggested. 

“Dot has a very nice ring to it,” William nodded. “I like it.”

“Princess Dot… I love it already,” She scrunched her nose and smiled at the sleeping baby. 

For a moment, the couple stayed like that, being utterly entranced and wrapped up in their new daughter’s cuteness. However, a quick knock at the door snapped them out of it, and before they knew it, Wakko had burst into the room and ran onto the bed. 

“Is that my baby brother?” Wakko asked, staying on the foot of the bed out of cautious curiosity. 

“Remember Wakko, you have to be quiet with babies,” Yakko reminded his brother, climbing onto the bed at a much slower pace.

“Actually, you boys now have a sister,” William said. 

“A girl?” Angelina stood at the foot of the bed. 

“Yes… a girl,” Lena looked at her mother. 

“Splendid. Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca The Third,” The queen nodded in approval. 

“Actually, we already named her-”

“The girl _will_ be named Angelina the Third, and she _will_ be a proper young lady. You do not have a say in the matter,” Angelina declared. 

“ _We’re_ her parents. It’s not your place to name her,” Lena argued. 

“Do I need to remind you that I am the Queen? Because you seem to be rather forgetful,” Angelina seethed. 

“Of course not, your majesty,” William sighed. “Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca the Third is a beautiful name.”

The queen looked at William and nodded.

“It would do you well to listen to that husband of yours, Angelina. It might do you some good,” She looked at her daughter, entering a mini stare off, before exiting. 

“That name’s really long,” Wakko said once she left. 

“We can still call her Dot, but it’ll be a nickname instead,” Angelina determined. 

“So… her real name would be Angelina the Third, but we’d call her Dot? Wouldn’t grandma find that suspicious?” Yakko asked with a concerned frown. 

“I suppose we’d call her Angelina around your grandmother… but she hardly spends any time with her anyway, I’d hardly see why it matters. All she cares about is what she’s called legally,” Lena said, sharing a look with William. Yakko and Wakko nodded. 

“I like Dot. Dot is a good name,” Wakko smiled, clearly wanting to come closer, but still keeping his distance on the edge. 

“You can get closer, come here,” Lena smiled and gestured for the boys to come closer. William scooted out of the way, and the boys crawled onto either side of their mother, both getting a good look at their sister. 

“Dot,” Yakko nodded. “I think it fits her.”

“I think so too,” William said, ruffling his hair. Yakko laughed. 

“Can we call her Dottie?” Wakko asked. Lena shrugged. 

“That’ll be up to her,” Lena shrugged. “Some people just don’t like certain nicknames.” 

“Okay,” Wakko didn’t argue. He paused a moment, before speaking again. 

“Why does she look like that?”

“Wakko, you can’t just say that,” Yakko gave his younger brother a look. 

“What? She’s so tiny and cute, it’s weird,” Wakko frowned. Lena chuckled. 

“Yakko, Wakko, it’s alright,” She said, before looking at Wakko. “It’s just because she’s a baby, and you’ve never seen one before. Babies are very small, but she’ll grow with time, you’ll see.”

“Will she ever be bigger than me?” he asked. 

“Perhaps… though you’ll always be older,” William said. Wakko nodded, accepting this newfound information. 

“That’s right Wakko, you’re a big brother too,” Lena said with a smile. 

“That means it’ll be part of your job to protect and watch over her, like how Yakko watches over you,” William pointed out. Wakko looked at his big brother. 

“Really?” he asked. Yakko nodded. 

“Welcome to the big brother club,” He grinned. 

“Yay! That’ll be fun,” Wakko gave a big toothy grin, and Lena and William laughed fondly. 

And so their perfect little family gained another member. Wakko quickly adapted to his role of big brother, always watching Dot from afar with curiosity, and slowly coming closer as he gained an understanding of her, especially with the help of Yakko and his father. 

Wakko and Dot grew especially close when Yakko was forced to go to lessons, leaving Wakko with nothing to do, so he naturally wandered into his sister’s room and they’d play together for hours and hours. 

Four years went by of this, and Wakko and Dot had become quite the wild pair, always running around both inside the castle and out, with William and Lena sometimes barely able to keep up. 

Such was the situation one autumn day. Dot and Wakko were playing out in the gardens, while their parents rested at their favorite bench by the center fountain. 

“I’m gonna catch you!” Dot cheered as she chased after her brother. 

“Nuh-uh! I’m the fastest creature there’s ever been,” Wakko shouted back as he ran through the flower beds, not even realizing mud was getting everywhere. Dot didn’t even hesitate to follow, getting mud all over her bright pink dress. 

“Wakko! Dot! Stay out of the flower beds! You’ll crush the tulips,” Their mother called from afar. The children took their mother’s warning, getting out, and continuing their chase. 

Slowly but surely they ran further and further away from their parents, eventually running back into the castle, still in their mad chase. Wakko dashed upstairs, and Dot followed, but Wakko tripped on one step, slowing him down just enough for Dot to tag him and scurry back down and run the other way down the hall, tracking mud as she ran. Wakko wasn’t hurt from his trip, and chased after, as was the rule of tag. 

“Na na nana na! You can’t catch me!” Dot teased her brother, turning her head to look back, becoming confused briefly when she saw him screech to a halt right before-

Poof

Dot ran straight into her grandmother. 

“Princess Angelina- what is the matter with you? Why- you’re filthy!” The queen scolded. 

“I’m not dirty,” Dot frowned. 

“You’re absolutely covered in mud- you have a trail of muddy footprints coming up and down and-… _you,_ ” Angelina’s eyes fell upon Wakko. 

“I should’ve known you were behind this from the start- you’re always corrupting that sister of yours,” she stormed towards the frightened eight-year-old. 

“It’s not his fault!” Dot argued, but her grandmother ignored her. 

“We were just playing…” Wakko said. 

“Games are for fools who will never amount to anything,” Angelina grabbed Wakko’s arm and began to drag him off. 

“Don’t take Wakko!” Dot pleaded, running to catch up with the furious queen. 

“I’ve had enough of your antics. First with that brother of yours always talking back, and then your relentless need to give your sister ideas of filth and characteristics most unladylike- I’m going to put you somewhere where your siblings will be free of your influence,” she gripped his arm tighter and Wakko yelped in pain. 

“Let him go! Let him go!” Dot screamed, pulling on her dress as they began to go up some stairs. 

“Stay out of this, Angelina. Go and clean yourself up,” The queen glared.

“My name is Dot!” She shouted at her. giving her dress a massive tug that almost caused her to fall. 

“You irritable brat!” Angelina kicked Dot off of her dress, and Dot tumbled down. 

“Dot!” Wakko cried out, but Angelina returned to dragging him up the stairs, despite how much he was kicking and screaming at this point. 

Eventually, they reached the top of a very, very tall tower, and Wakko was thrown into a dark and dusty room at the top. 

“You are going to stay here and think about what you’ve done,” Angelina seethed. 

“Let me go! You hurt Dot! You’ll pay for that!” Wakko shook and pounded on the door violently, but she had already locked it, and he had only the strength of an eight-year-old.

Wakko paced and paced and paced around the room, desperately trying to think of _something_ he could do. He tried biting on the door handle to see if he could break it, but the solid iron was just too strong. he tried slamming into it, but it only hurt him more. He pondering climbing out the window, but he knew it was far too tall. 

He was trapped. 

Dot was hurt. 

Wakko sunk to the floor, realizing he had already failed at his duty of big brother at the ripe age of eight. 

He could only wonder what was going on in the world below the tower…

.o0o.

“I’m not saying that, Lena, I’m just saying-”

“Wait, William… it’s quiet.” Angelina shot up, mid-conversation and took a look around the garden. “Too quiet… where are Wakko and Dot?”

“They probably just ran back into the castle and forgot to tell us again,” William sighed with a smile. “They’re very forgetful like that. C’mon dearest,” he stood and offered his hand and assisted her up. 

“I don’t like this… something feels off…” Lena looked around. 

“I’m sure it’s fine, Lena, just relax,” William smiled sympathetically. “Like I said, they’re probably just inside.”

“Yes… you’re probably right. I worry too much,” Lena tried to force a laugh to relax her nerves, but something deep within her didn’t feel right. 

Eventually, the couple made it back to the castle, and noticed there was a path of muddy footprints that lead in the same direction. 

“I told them to stay out of the flower beds,” Lena shook her head with a chuckle. They apologized to the cleaners as they went in further. 

“Wakko? Dot?” William called. 

No response. 

“Excuse me, where did do these tracks end?” Lena asked one of the maids. 

“One set goes up a few stairs before ending, the other goes down the nursery hall,” They explained. William and Lena shared a look. 

They thanked the maid and decided to go to the nursery hall to look for them first. 

However, to their distress, when they entered the hallway, they could hear very distinct cries. William and Lena ran to the nursery and found Dot was crying and hugging her stuffed bear, Barky. 

“Dot? Honey, are you okay? Where’s Wakko?” Lena asked, and Dot ran to her and hugged her. 

“G-gra-grand-m-ma t-to-took h-hi-him a-and now h-h-he-he’s g-gone, a-and sh-she kicked me a-and now m-my head hurts a-and- a-and-” Dot hiccuped so much, it was impossible to understand. 

“Grandma? What did she do?” William asked, his concern growing tenfold. 

“Sh-she took him! A-and kicked me d-down the stairs,” Dot sobbed. Lena and William gasped. 

“The tower,” they said at the same time. 

“h-huh?” Dot sniffled. 

“Don’t worry honey, we’ll get Wakko back. Everything is going to be okay,” she kissed her forehead. 

“William, go break him out,” she ordered, and William only paused to give Dot a quick kiss on the forehead too before running out. 

“Meanwhile _I_ am going to have to have a good talking to with your grandmother,” Lena said. 

“D-don’t go!” Dot pleaded. 

“I don’t wanna go, Dottie, but we’re going to find Yakko, okay? Mommy just really needs to talk to grandma about this,” Lena said. Dot sniffled and thought a second before nodding. 

“Yakko is good,” she agreed. Lena nodded, picking up Dot and carrying her until she reached the family study and walked in. 

“Mom?” Yakko tilted his head, before noticing Dot and gasping. “What happened?” He asked. 

“I’m going to have a conversation with your grandmother. Watch over her for me,” Lena said, setting Dot down. Yakko nodded. 

“C’mere Dot,” he stood from his desk and opened his arms, and Dot ran to him and gave a strong hug. 

“She might need some ice for her head while I go talk to your grandmother,” Lena said. Yakko frowned. 

“What happened?” he asked. 

“Nothing you can fix, but something I’m going to try to anyway,” Lena huffed. “Promise me you’ll be smart and stay safe in here?”

“Promise,” Yakko swore. 

“Good,” She bent down and gave Dot another kiss on the top of her head. 

“I’ll be right back you two,” She smiled before heading out. 

The more Lena walked, the more enraged she became. 

She knew her mother was cruel and wicked, but to be so utterly heartless and inhumane as to lock Wakko, an _actual child_ , inside that terrible, horrible, awful room just felt like a whole new level of low. Lena had to draw the line right then and there. Her mother simply could _not_ get away with this. It didn’t matter that she was the queen- this was beyond sadistic. 

She eventually reached the throne room, and burst in. 

“Mother, what the _hell_ is _my_ son doing in that awful tower room?! He’s only eight years old! You had no right do punish him in that way!” She shouted at her. 

“Angelina! I am in the middle-” Her mother tried to say, looking furious. 

“No! You had _no_ right to do that to my son. I mean- seriously. How on earth could you lock up your own grandchild like that?!” Lena asked, and she heard whispers of people behind her. 

Her mother was in the middle of a meeting with ambassadors from other kingdoms in the area. 

“Angelina that is _**enough!** ” _The queen shouted, standing up from her throne. 

“Outside. **Now**.” she ordered, and Lena went out one of the doors, her mother following. 

Once the doors shut, The queen removed her glove and slapped Angelina across the face. 

“You have no right addressing your queen like that, especially in a meeting such as that,” She fumed. 

“You have no right treating my son like an animal!” Lena argued, and her mother hit her again. 

“If he doesn’t want to be treated like one then he should stop acting like one.” She grit her teeth. 

“He’s your family. You have no right to treat him like that,” Lena stayed firm. 

“You do not tell me what I can or cannot do. Honestly, Angelina, you are so blinded by your arrogance you always forget that in every situation, _I am the one in control_ ,” She stepped forward, leering over her. 

“Well, either way, your little tower tactic won’t work anyways. William is strong enough he’s breaking down the door to free our son right now,” Lena smirked proudly. Her mother hit her again. 

“You know what, Angelina? For years and years and years I have been merciful on you and your pitiful existence. I let you have your bastard peasant husband, and your disgusting children, but now? Your insolence has gone on far too long. I really did hope it wouldn’t come to this, but you’ve forced my hand,” she said, coldly. 

“Wh-what are you going to do?” Lena’s anger evaporated into fear. 

“What I must to remove this blemish on my perfect family tree,” She glared, before walking back and out into the throne room again, leaving Lena horrorstruck.

Dear God… what had she done?


	8. Anxiously Waiting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Warner Family remains anxious as to what the queen plans to do after Lena's outbreak.

The royal family had been on the edge of their seats in anxiety ever since the day Angelina I locked Wakko up in the tower. 

Well- that wasn’t entirely correct. Dot seemed blissfully unaware of the tension surrounding her, and Wakko was trying his best to just enjoy the fact he didn’t have to stay in that tower any longer than he already had anymore. His and Dot’s spirits were admirable, but the rest of the family simply couldn’t share the same feelings. 

Lena had been practically pacing 24/7 ever since her conversation with her mother, of which she refused to give the kids details about, but from how easily her worry spread to their father, and the massive bruise on her face she tried so very very hard to cover with makeup, it was safe to say it went very poorly. She was constantly checking up them, making sure to keep a special eye out for Wakko, of whom Yakko was pretty sure she never let out of her sight anymore. 

William had been nervous too. He was off at the training stations at night far more often than he used to, practicing his sword fighting. This effort failed him, however, when he sprained his arm from overworking it. Without his main source of stress relief, it became very clear something was eating him alive, and Yakko wished his parents trusted him enough to tell so he could help. He was the eldest brother, after all, he was supposed to help watch over his sibs too. 

Yakko was anxious because of his parent’s anxieties, the fact they wouldn’t tell him what was going on, and a mysterious letter he had caught a glimpse of at his last lesson. 

He had arrived early to his grandmother’s study, and she must’ve been writing to someone right before he came because she left a letter to dry there. Yakko only caught a glimpse, but he recalled it saying:

“ _…they are the priority. However, if the younger were to be lost in the chaos, I wouldn’t mind in the slightest-”_ and his grandmother snatched it from his hands before he could read further. 

Yakko wished he hadn’t started reading it from the middle, because he simply couldn’t make sense of it. It sounded ominous, but not wanting to stress out his parents any more than they clearly were, he kept it to himself, figuring he was smart enough that he’d decode it eventually. 

He was pretty sure his parents could tell how tense he was, because they kept patting and rubbing his back and assuring him things would be fine, but the bruise on his mother’s face refused to let him believe that. 

“Alright you two, it’s well past bedtime now, clean up the toys,” Lena chuckled softly as Dot and Wakko pouted in the playroom. 

“C’mon, you heard her you two,” Yakko rolled his eyes and assisted his younger siblings in cleaning up. Slowly but surely the warner siblings successfully cleaned up and put everything back in its place, before tiredly dragging themselves to their bedroom. 

Wakko went straight to his and Yakko’s room, and Yakko was pretty sure he was out cold once he hit his bed. 

Yakko however, lingered by Dot’s bedroom, cracking open the door just a little so he could listen in on the conversation the two were having. 

“Mommy, are you okay?” Dot asked. 

“Of course, dear, whatever would make you think that,” his mother said as she tucked in his little sister. Dot reached up, and her hand hovered over her bruise. 

“I’m fine, Dottie, it’s okay. You don’t need to worry about me, you need to get to bed,” Lena booped her nose. 

“I want a lullaby,” Dot said, sitting upright in the bed. 

“Ah ah, what do we say?” Lena scolded lightly. 

“May I have a lullaby… please?” Dot said. Lena nodded. 

“Let’s see now…” His mother thought to herself, tapping a finger on her chin.

“ _Wandering child of the earth, Do you know just how much you're worth?_ ,” She began, slowly tucking Dot back in again. “ _You have walked this path since your birth, You were destined for more_ _..”_

 _“There are those who'll tell you you're wrong. They will try to silence your song”_ She sang softly, and for a moment, Yakko thought she saw him, but she didn’t stop singing. 

“ _But right here is where you belong,”_ she continued. “ _So don't search anymore,"_

 _“You are a dawn that's still in the making, a masterpiece still in the making”_ she sang that line softer, and Yakko felt a chill go down his spine. 

“ _A blue in an ocean of grey. You are right where you need to be, Poised to inspire and to succeed,”_ Lena put a soft hand on Dot’s cheek, and she smiled.

“ _You'll look back and you'll realize one day...”_ Dot was practically asleep at that point, but neither Yakko nor his mother moved from where they were. 

“ _In your eyes there is doubt, As you try to figure it out, but that's not what life is about, So have faith there's a way,"_ She sang quietly, admiring her sleeping daughter a moment.

 _”Though the world may try to define you, it can't take the light that's inside you. So don't you dare try to hide, let your fears fade away,"_ She then kissed Dot on the forehead, slowly standing up. 

_“_ Soon you'll find your own way, _”_ Lena said, more than sang. She paused a moment. 

“Goodnight, Dot. I love you very much,” She said, pausing for a response, but Dot was fast asleep, as was the plan. Lena smiled softly before taking her candle and heading toward the door. Yakko panicked and started to run back to his room. 

“Yakko, I know you were listening,” Lena said as she closed the door to Dot’s room. 

“Sorry- I’ll go to bed now,” He apologized and continued on his way. 

“Stop right there mister,” Lena ordered, and Yakko stopped dead in his tracks. his mother approached him slowly. 

“You’ve been so anxious as of late, Yakko. I’m worried about you,” she put a hand on his shoulder. 

“Well- so have you,” Yakko shrugged. 

“Yakko, you’re so much younger than you realize… you’re twelve, for crying out loud. Our burdens should not be your burdens as well,” she stroked his cheek. 

“But I wanna help,” he frowned. 

“You help out in many meaningful ways, Yakko, but worrying yourself to death isn’t going to do any of us any good,” Lena said. “We need you to take care of yourself, alright?” 

Yakko thought long and hard about that. 

“But I want to help,” he said. Lena sighed softly. 

“I know honey… but for now, the best way to help is to take care of yourself. Try to get some sleep, alright?” She gave him a weak smile. Yakko bit his lip. 

“I can try,” was all he promised, which was good enough for the tired princess. Lena gave Yakko a soft kiss on the head. 

“Goodnight honey,” She said. 

“Goodnight, mom,” He replied, and before he knew it, she was gone. 

Yakko frowned at his bedroom door. He knew for a fact he was likely to be unable to sleep, so instead, he headed to the family study, which was quite a bit away from him and his sibs room, or any of the bedrooms really, but he didn’t mind the walk. Once there, he pulled out one of his favorite books, lit a few of the candles, and got to reading. 

However, as his eyes scanned the pages, the words from the letter rang in his mind over and over again. 

The younger of who? A priority of what? Why wouldn’t she mind? What ‘chaos’? There were simply too many questions in his head. 

Perhaps he should have shared them with his mom… that might’ve helped. 

Then again, it could also just make her more nervous, which was the last thing he wanted. 

He made the right decision, of that he was sure. 

Yakko wasn’t sure how long he was reading or attempting to do so, but somehow he had managed to fall asleep against the table. However, a loud crash, sent him straight up, as his mind scrambled to wake up with his body. 

What was that? Where did it come from? 

Another crashing noise. 

It came from the opposite direction of him and his sibs rooms, which meant-

His parent’s room. 

Yakko heard shouting, swearing, and fighting of all sorts. He ran to the door to open it, but realized that might not be the best of ideas. To both his panic and relief, the voices seemed to continue going away from his and his sibs rooms, but that meant they were going for his parents. 

Once the voices got far enough away, Yakko didn’t hesitate to swing the door open and run. He had to find his mom and dad- he had to make sure they were okay. 

It wasn’t hard to follow the mob, as they left a path of destruction behind. Shattered glass, torn-down curtains, mud, and other filth on the carpets. Yakko tried not to dwell, as he instead took a shortcut to his parent’s room. 

Yakko dashed around corners, around furniture, and under a few tables when he thought he might be caught. 

However, he was moving so fast, he could hardly stop himself when he dashed around a corner and one of the men saw him, and grabbed him before Yakko could even think to turn around. 

“You the little princey we’re lookin’ for?” He laughed, spitting in his face. 

“Let me go!” Yakko demanded, but the man didn’t. Instead, he kicked him down, and dragged him down to the end of the hall where he saw-

“Mom!” Yakko gasped. 

He honestly hadn’t thought much time had passed, but his mother looked like 50 brutal years had passed on her. Her hair and fur were disheveled, her nightgown was torn. She had more bruises on her face and a gash in her shoulder that was bleeding. Her wrists were tied in rope. . Her face grew mortified when she saw him. 

“Let him go! It’s me you want, not him,” Lena pleaded, not looking at Yakko.

“H-huh?” Yakko sniffled. 

“Not so fast, your highness,” one said in a mocking tone. “We were told one of ‘em could be collected as a bonus.” 

“ _Please_. I’ll do anything- just let him go,” she pleaded. 

“No, mom! I wanna stay with you!” Yakko began to cry. 

“No Yakko, your siblings need you,” Lena looked at him. 

“ _I_ need you,” Yakko pleaded.

“Yakko? Aren’t we supposed to be lookin’ for a Wakko?” One man said. Yakko’s eyes widened. 

The younger. Priority. Chaos. 

They were going to come for Wakko. 

“We were told to leave the crown prince alone, and get the middle one,” The tallest one smacked the one holding Yakko over the head. The man holding Yakko let him go, and he ran to his mother. 

“Other way, stupid,” One of the men snarled at him. 

“Mom, I-i’m not leaving you,” Yakko said. 

“You have to. You have to protect Wakko,” Lena put her forehead against his and whispered. 

“I-i can’t…” He cried. 

“Scram or we’ll make you regret it!” The tallest shouted at him. Yakko gave his mother one last look, before running back with all his might, before he felt something hit him against the back of his head, _hard_ and everything went black. 

.o0o.

When Yakko finally opened his eyes again, it was morning. He was surrounded by shattered glass, mud, the smell of torches and firewood, and a throbbing headache in the back of his head. 

His parents. 

Where were they???

Yakko shot up, ignoring the increase in the throb, and immediately began his search, checking every room he went by.

No, not their bedroom… not the bathroom… not the parlor… not the painting room, not the dining hall, not the kitchen, not the lounge room, not the playroom, not the nursery, not the family study, not this bedroom, not the next, not the next, not the-

“Yakko?” Wakko groggily rubbed his eyes. 

“Wakko, you’re okay,” Yakko sighed a breath of relief to find out his brother was still in his bed. 

“What’s the matter?” he asked, sitting up. 

Yakko didn’t have it in him to tell him, so he just turned and left. 

“Hey-! Wait! I wanna help!” Wakko protested his leave, and followed him. Yakko still didn’t say anything, checking Dot’s room quietly. 

She was still there too. 

“What’s the matter Yakko? I wanna help,” Wakko said just a tad too loudly, and Dot was awoken. 

“Yakko?” She asked, rubbing her eyes too. Yakko still couldn’t get himself to speak, so he continued his search. Wakko shrugged at his little sister, and Dot decided to join her brother in following Yakko. 

Yakko didn’t care that they were following, or that they were confused or worried by his silence. He didn’t care they were asking question after question about the state of the castle, and why so many things were destroyed. He needed to find them. His parents had to be okay. They had to be. 

Not in his room, not in Dot’s room, not in the laundry room, not in the tailoring room, not in the dressmaker room, not in the storage room, not in the supply room, not in this bedroom, not-

Angelina I’s private study. 

Maybe she’d have some answers. 

Yakko didn’t even knock before bursting in. 

The queen was already wearing all black, her face covered by a thick veil, though it hardly mattered because she wasn’t facing them anyway, staring out into the window instead. 

“Where are they?!” Yakko demanded. 

“They’re long gone, Yakko,” she didn’t even turn to look at him. 

“Y-y… you’re lying!” He couldn’t accept that. Not now. 

“Believe what you will, but you won’t find them here,” She said coldly, clutching her handkerchief tightly. 

“C’mon, let’s go,” Yakko commanded his younger siblings as he went out of the room. 

“Yakko, who are you talking about? Who are we looking for?” Wakko wasn’t understanding the situation. 

Yakko still couldn’t answer. 

not in the meeting room, not in the food storage, not in the tower, not in the ballroom, not in the dance lesson room, not in the theater room, not in the foyer-

Wait. 

Yakko saw something shining on the floor. Quickly he bolted down the stairs as fast as he could before he realized-

It was his mother’s crown. It would never just be lying on the ground like this. They had to be close. Yakko looked around desperately. 

_They **had** to be here. _

_“_ Mommy’s crown…” Dot frowned and went to it, but Yakko held his arm out, not daring to disturb it. 

“Yakko, why is mum’s crown here? Where is she?” Wakko asked him. 

“Yeah, where’s mommy and daddy? I’m scared…” Dot looked up at him.

“they _have_ to be here,” Yakko whispered to himself. 

“I can’t do this alone.”

He looked around the room, but his eyes were becoming clouded by tears rapidly filling his eyes. He called out for his parents again, but only a painful echo replied. A sharp wave of pain and numbness washed over him. 

Yakko collapsed onto his knees and sobbed. 

His parents were gone. 


	9. Endurance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A funeral is held for Princess Angelina II, and Sir William the Good.

“Yakko I don’t wanna go,” Dot complained, pulling on her itchy and puffy black dress that was just a little too tight. 

“We all have to go, Dot, it’s not up to us,” Yakko sighed, adjusting the bow tying her ears together. 

“But this dress itchessss,” she whined, tugging on the sleeves. 

“You’re going to stretch it out if you keep that up,” Yakko warned. 

“Why do we _have_ to go?” Dot continued with her complaining.

“Because Grandma said so, and what grandma tells us to do now… we have to,” Yakko glanced at his younger brother who was leaning against the wall and not facing them. 

“Why?” Dot asked.

“Because mom and dad can’t help us anymore,” Yakko sighed, taking her hand and walking towards Wakko. Wakko muttered something under his breath. 

Thankfully, Dot didn’t ask “why” again. 

“You ready?” Yakko asked Wakko. 

“Yeah,” Wakko said. Yakko rolled his eyes, noticing his brother’s shirt was buttoned all wrong. 

“Grandma would kill you if she saw you like this,” Yakko sighed, fixing it. Wakko muttered yet again. 

“What on earth are you muttering about?” Yakko shot him a look. 

“Nothing… nothing,” Wakko looked away. The older prince sighed. He really didn’t have the energy for this. 

Then again, he could hardly say he had the energy for anything anymore. The most sleep he had gotten the past four days was when he got knocked out by the assassins. Other than that, he was unable to sleep, the words of his mom ringing in his head. 

“ _Let him go! It’s me you want, not him!”_

He shivered. 

“Let’s just get going… the sooner it’s over, the better,” Yakko said, offering a hand to Dot and Wakko. Dot took it, but Wakko crossed his arms. 

They carried on. 

“Ready, you three?” Their grandmother asked, making that the fourth thing she had said to them since the day after the attack. 

She still hadn’t taken off that stupid thick black veil. 

“As we’ll ever be,” Yakko said, giving Dot’s hand a squeeze. 

Slowly, the grand doors to the overcast courtyard opened, and Yakko’s eyes quickly went to the two caskets. 

“Who’s in there?” Dot pointed as they went to their spot, which Yakko quickly made her put down. 

“Not mum and dad,” Wakko mumbled, and Yakko gave him a look as their grandmother went to the podium. 

“My people, we are gathered here today to do something no mother should ever have to go through. Today, we honor and mourn the memory of my only child, Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca the Second, and her husband, Sir William the Good,” She said, her voice cold and numb to the ears.

Yakko felt a wave of anger wash over him. She had _no_ right to speak in that way. 

_She_ hired the assassins. _She_ wanted them dead and gone. _It was all her fault._

“It is with a heavy heart that I am forced to retain my throne until my grandson, Prince Yakko, is of age,” she gestured to him. He didn’t know what to do, so he just nodded, trying not to let his rage consume him, allowing the numbness to take over once more. 

He wasn’t sure how much longer he could endure this.

His grandmother continued on with her speech, but Yakko paid it no mind, his eyes stuck on the empty caskets. 

Wakko was right, his parents weren’t in them. Nobody told them why, but Yakko was smart enough to realize that just meant the assassins either burned them, threw them in a river somewhere, or buried them in the middle of the woods somewhere far, far away. 

In some sense, Yakko was glad the caskets were empty. He wasn’t sure if he had it in him to look upon the dead faces of his mother and father, and he was much more sure that seeing that wouldn’t be good for Wakko or Dot. 

“Heavy is the head that wears the crown, and heavier is the heart of one who has lost a child,” he heard her say.

Yakko growled, but controlled himself, burying the anger deep within himself.

Eventually, she was done, and other, more boring people spoke. There was a song and Yakko really wanted nothing more in the world than for this to end so he could go back into his room and be alone for just a moment, not standing in front of thousands feeling empty and hollow and numb. 

The queen chose to stand on the opposite side of the podium than the trio of children. She had been distant ever since the attack. Yakko suspected that was likely to change very soon, but for now, he was grateful. The last thing he wanted to deal with was her complaining that Dot was crying too loud. 

Poor Dot… she was still too young to really understand what death was, no matter how Yakko tried to explain. All she knew was that they were gone, and they weren’t coming back. At first she thought it was because they abandoned them, but Yakko was quick to explain they’d never do that to them. After that though, she started looking around corners for them, expecting them to be there any minute…

Every night, Dot would wake up and start crying for them, but they never came. Instead, Yakko could come in and take Dot to his and Wakko’s room, and he’d cuddle with her until she fell back asleep. 

It helped him with his nightmares too. 

“Yakko, we’re going, it’s over,” Wakko said, snapping his older brother back into reality. 

“Right, yes,” Yakko shook his head, taking Dot’s hand again, and they all went to the great hall for refreshments, though Yakko hardly had the appetite. 

However, Wakko did have the appetite, so he stayed anyway, though he was unfortunately placed right next to his grandmother, looking evermore cold and blank behind that veil. He could hardly make out where her eyes were, until she looked at him, then he looked away. 

“It’s rude to stare at a woman in mourning,” She said. 

“ _Mourning my ass_ ,” Yakko thought. He was so done pretending to care about her.

“Sorry,” he said instead. Knowing the new lengths she was willing to go to to get rid of people and things she didn’t like reminded him to keep his mouth shut. 

“That brother of yours is causing a racket. Fix it,” She waved her hand at him, and Yakko looked for Wakko and whatever racket he was supposedly causing, but all he was him and a few other random boys laughing and playing a game in the corner. Yakko frowned. 

“I don’t see what the matter is?” He scratched his head. 

“This is a funeral, _boy_ , you aren’t supposed to be playing games,” She seethed, and Yakko left without a word, sensing her anger. 

“Wakko, c’mon,” Yakko went to his brother. 

“What? I’m in the middle of a-”

“ _Now._ ” Yakko snapped, stepping out into the hall. Wakko quickly followed. 

“What did I do this time?” Wakko asked as the door closed behind him. 

“This is a funeral, Wakko, you can’t be playing games with strangers,” Yakko pointed out. “Or did you forget why we’re wearing these black uncomfortable outfits?”

“I didn’t forget,” Wakko rolled his eyes. 

“Oh yeah? Because it really seems like you have,” Yakko stepped forward angrily. Wakko blinked, not understanding where this anger was coming from. 

“W-well… it’s not my fault it doesn’t actually feel like a funeral. I-i mean seriously Yakko, they didn’t even find their bodies,” Wakko crossed his arms. 

“Wakko… they’re _dead_ whether you like it or not,” Yakko said, feeling a lump in his throat. 

“No,” Wakko shook his head. “I don’t believe it. If they were dead, they’d’ve been in those boxes.”

“Wakko, i know i-it hurts, but-”

“but no! They aren’t dead! Th-they can’t be dead b-because if they were-” Wakko paused from his shouting. 

“I-if they were…”

“It’d be my fault…”

Yakko blinked. “Wh-what?”

“I-it was _my_ idea to run i-in the garden a-and _I_ ran through the flower b-bed and _I_ tracked in the mud, a-and she took _me_ to the tower a-and Dad broke _me_ out a-and grandma g-got mad at mum a-and th-then everything was b-bad a-and n-now they’re gone,” Wakko shouted, a waterfall of tears streaming down his face. 

“Wakko, that isn’t true,” Yakko was mortified. 

“If they’re dead it’s my fault, it’s true,” Wakko didn’t listen, shaking his head and closing his eyes tightly, putting his hands on his head. Yakko quickly hugged him. 

“It’s not your fault Wakko,” He stroked his head. 

“It’s my fault- I’m such a screw-up,” he continued to cry. 

“Wakko, you are _not_ a screw-up and you are _not_ an idiot,” Yakko adamantly denied. 

“Th-then why are they gone?” Wakko looked up at him, tears still pouring. Yakko bit his lip. 

He could tell them. He knew why, he had seen the letter. 

But that would make them angry, and anger would cause them to lash out at the queen, which could get them hurt or far, far worse. 

“Because evil people decided to hurt them,” Yakko sighed. “I’m sorry, there’s nothing more to it than that.”

“I’ll kill them,” Wakko sniffled and buried his head in Yakko’s shirt. 

“I know Wakko, I know,” Yakko patted his head. For a long moment, the warner brothers remained in their embrace. 

“S-so… they’re really… dead?” Wakko glanced up. 

“Y-yeah… they’re really dead, Wakko.” He paused, before adding, “I’m so sorry.”

Wakko sniffled. “You don’t need to be sorry, it’s not your fault either.”

Yakko hesitated at that. It made sense, of course, but.. he sighed.

“ _Worrying yourself to death isn’t going to do any of us any good.”_ His mother’s voice reminded. 

“Yeah… you’re right,” He sighed. “There’s no point in guilt anyway. We’ll just… have to move on.”

“…I miss them,” Wakko whispered. 

“I miss them too Wak, but they’re gone, and there’s nothing we can do except move on, okay?”

Wakko slowly nodded. 

“Okay…”

.o0o.

“We’re almost there, I promise.”

They had traveled for goodness knew how long, ignoring the stings, the rips, the sprains that burned throughout their bodies as they trudged through the snow. 

Of all of the years for it to snow early, did it have to be this one?

Well, then again, the snow had been their savior, the ice caused their carriage to overturn. 

That didn’t mean they weren’t injured in their escape, one was barely holding on as it was. 

“We’re almost there.” the stronger of the two repeated. 

“I-i can’t. It hurts too much,” the weaker nearly collapsed into the snow, had it not been for the other catching them. 

“Just a little bit further, _please_ ,” The stronger pleaded. The weaker shook their head. 

“I’m not leaving you here.” 

“They need you.”

“You don’t think they need you too?” 

A pause. 

“I’ll carry you.”

“Y-you can’t-”

“I can and I will-”

“Your arm-”

“I don’t care,” The stronger made their decision. They braced themselves, and with tremendous effort, picked up their dying partner, and continued trudging through the snow. 

Slowly but surely a small town swelled on the horizon. 

They had made it. 

They carried on as fast as they could manage, ignoring the flaring pain shooting through their entire body when finally, they arrived. 

With their free hand, they pounded on the door. Shuffling noises came from behind, and eventually, a familiar curvy blonde woman answered the door. 

“Dr. Scratchnsniff’s Office, how can I- William?! Princess? What on earth are you two doing in Acme Falls? What happened?”

“We’ve had one _hell_ of a week.” William responded, before collapsing onto his knees, and passing out.


	10. Through Hell and Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How on earth did Lena and William survive the attack?

To say William woke up feeling refreshed would be the most obvious lie of all time. 

His first thought in his painfully groggy head of his was of his location. From what he could sense, it wasn’t familiar. The beds felt cheap, nothing like the royal silk sheets he had gotten used to at the palace. 

His second thought was of Lena. He couldn’t feel her presence, which caused him to snap his eyes open and look for her. 

This third thought was remembering what had happened. 

Freeing Wakko. Hurting his arm. The attack. 

He tried sitting up but a wave of pain shot through his whole body and he was forced to sit back down. However, he looked across the room and saw her. 

Lena was in a bed across the room from him, and it hurt his neck to look at her, but he couldn’t look away. He had never seen her with so many bruises and bandages around her in his life. It broke his heart.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” The familiar voice of his childhood best friend, Helloise Nerz, spoke softly. “How are you feeling?”

How was he feeling? Almost every inch of his body ached and hurt, his wife somehow appearing worse than him, and he was miles and miles away from his children, who he already missed terribly. 

“Right… poor question,” She apologized. “How much do you remember?”

He thought a moment. 

“Last thing I remember is passing out on your doorstep,” He said. She nodded. 

“Good, because that was the last thing that happened,” She said. 

“So… what’s wrong with me, doc?” He joked a little. Helloise chuckled. 

“Nurse. Scratchy is the real doc, I’m just the assistant,” She remarked. 

“Don’t sell yourself short, Helloise. I’m sure you could run this place if you had to,” He said. She snorted. 

“You’ve got a terribly sprained arm that I noticed was already bandaged, but you’ve made much worse, I presume from carrying her highness. You also have a torn ligament in your right ankle, minor frostbite, and numerous pulled muscles throughout your legs,” she read off of a chart. 

“And Lena?” He asked. 

“Broken rib, a minor concussion from what we can tell, fractured fibula, severe bruising on the face, minor frostbite, and blood loss from a severe wound in the right shoulder we cleaned and stitched up.”

William looked at his wife again. 

“How long have we been asleep?” He asked. 

“Three days,” She said. William blinked. 

“Th-three days?” he asked.

She sighed. “William…” she sat on the edge of his bed. 

“The whole kingdom thinks you two are dead, and honestly, you two are lucky to be alive.”

“What? Why? How? What about Yakko Wakko and Dot? Are they alright?” He tried sitting up, but the wave of pain reminded him not to. 

“Well, her majesty the queen threw a funeral two days ago. They said attackers stormed the castle in the night and killed the two of you,” She explained. 

“But what about Yakko Wakko and Dot? Are they okay?” He asked. 

“I haven’t heard any news of the three of them, so they should be alright with the queen.”

“If you could consider being with the queen alright,” he muttered. 

“Right… She wasn’t the best mother, right?” She remembered. He shook his head, sighing. Just then, a low grumble came from across the room, and Lena began to stir. 

“What… where… Will..?” she mumbled as her eyes slowly opened and she took in her surroundings. William wanted nothing more than to rush to her side, but the numerous injuries Helloise had informed him about kept him where he was. Instead, the good nurse went over and started evaluating and explaining the situation to her. 

“D-dead..?” Her face went pale as a ghost. “That means… They’re with… we have to go. Now,” She looked at William, and started climbing out of her bed, nearly collapsing immediately if it hadn’t been for Helloise catching her. 

“Your highness, you can’t. You need to recover,” She said, laying her back down. 

“I can’t leave them with her- I can’t,” She shook her head.

“Lena…” He said softly. She looked at him for a moment, before lying back down and looking away, her expression mostly unreadable. Just then, the doctor came in. 

“Oh goodie, you two are awake,” He said, but he quickly read the room. 

“Er… how are you two feeling?” He asked. William shrugged, while Lena remained silently looking away. 

He then pulled the nurse back outside to talk for a moment, promising it wouldn’t be long. William nodded and let them go, and his eyes went to Lena. 

She wouldn’t look at him, even when he said her name. Something was deeply, deeply wrong. William wished he could read her mind, though he did have a few guesses. For one, the kids. 

William knew they were resourceful and clever, but he honestly had no idea what Angelina was going to do to them now that they were out of the picture- especially if she thought they were dead. 

It sent a shiver down his spine just thinking about it…

“So… your highnesses… what can you tell us about the attack?” The doctor reentered and asked. 

“Oh god… where to start?” he chuckled nervously. 

“If you aren’t ready, it’s totally fine,” Helloise sat on the edge of his bed. “We just… well… the people are curious. You are supposed to be dead after all.”

“Of course,” William said, before taking in a deep breath and beginning. 

.o0o. 

It had been a tense week. William had been mad at himself when he had sprained his arm. He was a knight, dammit, he was supposed to be trained to be better than that. Now it meant he had to postpone any of his own mini training lessons he was giving Wakko and Yakko until later, which he knew Yakko would be suspicious of. He always had a habit of picking up on their anxiety and carrying it with him like it was his responsibility too, which was upsetting for multiple reasons. 

Some of Angelina’s lessons were extremely difficult to try and undo. 

At least Wakko was trying to be optimistic about things. After he had broken him out of the tower, Wakko was spending a lot more time with them as a family, suddenly talking to them a lot more than he used to, which William took as a good sign, seeing as he desperately wanted something to look on the bright side about. 

Dot was happy too, of course, as she was just glad to have Wakko back too. She could hardly tell everyone else was anxious, she was only four after all. 

When the first window broke, William had been up in a flash, and despite his injury, he grabbed his sword anyway. 

“William? What’s the matter?” Lena had asked. 

“Go back to sleep, my love. I’ll handle this,” he kissed her head, leaving their bedroom. 

He walked through the halls, surprised at just how silent everything was. Still, he kept his guard up, not allowing himself to relax for even a second. 

“…this castle is huge! Even with the map she gave us,” a disgruntled, not-too-far off voice said. William ducked behind a curtain for cover. 

“It’s a quick mission though: grab the king, grab the queen, and grab the kid if there’s time to spare,” A lower voice shrugged, and William felt a wave of protectiveness wash over him. Immediately, he burst out and attacked one of the men, and they quickly began a sword fight. 

Unfortunately, William found himself evenly matched by his opponent and realized he was surrounded by allies, some that were even taller than him.

He was kinda screwed. 

Still, he fought and parried and swung and blocked with a valiant effort, though the pain in his arm burned more and more and it was evident he was becoming weaker. His opponent saw this, and got behind, and he brought down the handle of his sword onto his arm, and William dropped his sword and fell onto the ground, growling in pain. 

“Remember, queenie said no blood on her carpets or tapestries,” The tallest reminded his attacker, who was now pointing his sword at his face. “Tie him up. With the strongest removed, we can work on getting that queen and the middle boy,” He ordered, before taking a few and leaving. 

_Wakko._

William growled, and swiped his feet out from under him, causing his attacker to fall to the ground. William then began fighting with his bare fists against the men who tried jumping on and fighting him next. 

However, the numbers were too large, and before William knew it, his wrists were tied and he was captured. 

“Alright, move it, princey,” one of the men kicked him. William gnashed his teeth, but they planned for that, as two of the men held him down, and a third quickly put a muzzle around him. 

“There, now that should get you to behave,” He grinned, pulling William up, and the three men forced him out of the castle, and into the back of a carriage, where he was locked in and left. 

He tried kicking the door open, but it must’ve been solid wood because he got nowhere, and all he ended up doing was exhausting himself. 

William was alone for quite an amount of time, and he tried everything he could to break free of his restraints but nothing was working. He cursed his stubbornness that caused him to sprain his arm- if it hadn’t been for that he was confident he would’ve been able to take down the six men. He was a knight for god’s sake- he was supposed to be able to protect his family. 

He was supposed to be able to protect his family. 

After a long moment of silence and stillness, the door opened and Lena was thrown in next to him, and William caught a glimpse of the outside and noticed it was snowing lightly. 

He didn’t dwell on that, his eyes falling onto Lena, who looked horrible. Tears were streaming down her face as she looked at him, slowly and painfully crawling her way over and lying against his chest. William did his best to hug her with his hands tied. 

Neither of them could say a word, but both knew exactly what the other was feeling, and they did their best to embrace and comfort each other. 

Then, the carriage began to move.

_They didn’t capture Wakko._

Despite everything, William sighed a breath of relief.

Silently, the couple rode for hours, not knowing where they were being taken or why or who was behind any of this, though they had a few guesses.

William was just glad he still had her… even if it wouldn’t be for much longer.

He loved her with his entire being, nothing would ever change that, not an evil queen, and not even death.

However, his mind quickly went to his kids.

Wakko was alive- at least, he hoped. The attackers said they couldn’t get blood anywhere, hopefully, that meant they just ran out of time to find him and he was okay. 

But if they were killed, William had no idea what Angelina would do to them. They would have no protection from her now. They could be hurt, or worse…

William hugged Lena a little tighter.

After an hour or two of riding, the temperature inside the carriage got notably colder, the snow outside picking up.

William prayed for a miracle.

They continued riding on, William even drifting to sleep at one point, when they were suddenly jerked awake. there were shouts from out of where they were, and William and Lena sat up best they could, though Lena was in a lot more pain. Suddenly, the carriage lost control, and started to skid and slide, though William and Lena had no idea what the cause was- but it didn’t matter because not before long, it crashed into a tree and everyone was thrown into the air, and landed with a crash and crack. 

William winced at the sound, closing his eyes but when he opened, he saw it-

The doors were busted open. 

Quickly, William scooted out, gesturing for Lena to follow, but she was closing her eyes and cringing in pain, and William realized she had injured her leg in the fall. Knowing they didn’t have much time to run, he carefully got her out, having her arms go around him with the tie, and having her hold herself up best she could with her remaining upper body strength as they ran into the woods, as far away as they could manage, also while looking for something they could use to untie their hands- and also a hiding place for when the attackers began to search. 

Luckily, William was well trained in tracking so he did his best to make sure his footprints in the snow made zero sense and were misleading at best, praying they wouldn’t be able to follow, but he didn’t know who or what they were, so it was hard to be certain. 

Eventually, William and Lena made it to a cave and they hid in there for a while, With William finding a particularly sharp rock he used to untie his hands, remove his muzzle, then untie Lena, and remove her muzzle. 

“William,” she said with teary eyes. 

“Lena,’ he replied, becoming overwhelmed with the desire to hug her, but noting her injured state, he instead just pressed his forehead against hers, and she did the same, placing her soft hand against his face as she cried softly.

“We can’t stay here for long- a bear probably lives here,” she said. 

“Just for a moment, we need to rest- figure out where we are, and what our next move is,” He said. 

“We’re so far from home… how are we going to get out of this?” She asked. 

“I… I don’t know, Lena,” He admitted. “But we will, I promise.” 

They stayed hidden for quite some time, having only one close call when one of the tracker’s voices was close enough for them to hear, but William was ready with the sharp rock in case he got too close, but he never did, so they were alright. 

Well- alright, considering everything that just happened. 

Eventually, the sun started to rise in the woods, and it slowly dawned on William that the coast was clear, and they were free to go. 

But… free to go where? They had no idea where they were- were they even in Warnerstock? They could be in foreign lands for all they know- a place where they didn’t even speak the language and they could be killed for sneaking in and-

Wait. Lena was the Princess, and knew all the languages of the neighboring kingdoms, and would likely be given aid. William was panicking over nothing. 

However… Lena was looking rather weak. She lost a lot of blood, and her injuries were only pilling up. 

“Where do we go?” Lena asked as he was looking at her.

“Well… I don’t think we can go home… as something tells me your mother was behind this…” He stroked his chin. 

“You’re telling me,” she huffed, before wincing in pain. 

William snapped. “I know a place where they can’t refuse us,” he grinned. 

Lena blinked. “William… Acme falls is in the middle of nowhere and perhaps one of the first places they’d go looking for us if we were missing,” she frowned. 

“Well- not unless your mother wants us to be dead. Then she wouldn’t have to or want to look anywhere,” he said. “It’d be just like it was when we had just gotten married.”

“When we just married…” Lena trailed off into the memory, a look of sad nostalgia written on her face. 

“Look… I’m going to go and try to figure out where we are, so we can head to Acme. Will you be okay if you stay here?” he asked. 

“I don’t think I have a choice,” she tried to joke, but William knew she hated it. He kissed her forehead. 

“I love you,” He said. “I won’t be long.”

“I love you too, Wiliam,” she replied, and William ran out of the cave. 

It took about an hour, but eventually, William discovered that yes, they were still in Warnerstock, and found the direction they were to go to if they wanted to go to Acme Falls. It would be quite the trek, especially if this snow continued to fall, but he had determination on his side. 

He was _not_ going to die here, nor was he going to let Lena. He would carry her in his arms if he had to, simple as that. 

.o0o.

“So… yeah. We hiked for hours to reach here, the strains and pulled muscles and frostbite are from trekking through the snow, and that’s how we got here,” William finished his tale. 

“Oh William… that’s terrible,” Helloise looked at him sadly. 

“That does explain a lot… you two should really be getting rest now, yah?” Scratchnsniff remarked, reading over their charts one more time. 

“Rest, yeah…” he nodded slowly, though sleep was the last thing he wanted. He wanted to go back to the palace asap, and kill Angelina, and get his kids back. He was confident Lena felt the same.

Though… they wouldn’t be able to do much good in this state… especially without a plan. 

“We’ll leave the two of you alone… you’ve been through a lot,” Helloise said.

“Thanks,” he gave a weak smile, which she returned. 

His eyes then went to his wife, who still wasn’t looking at him, staring intently at the ground and wall. 

“Lena, my love, what’s the matter?” He asked. Lena snorted. 

“That’s your first question?” She snarked. 

Okay, that was on him. That was a pretty dumb question. 

“What are you thinking about?” he tried again. Lena crossed her arms.

“It isn’t fair…” she said. William sighed. 

“I know it’s not fair that-”

“I’m not talking about my mother o-or the attack- I-i’m talking about you,” she snapped. William paused. 

“What do you mean?” he asked. Lena sighed, wincing at the pain. 

“Damned broken ribs…” she muttered. 

“I meant… It’s not fair. Time after time after time I end up hurt or crying or abused- it isn’t fair. You’re always so _strong_ William, it pains me. When is it my turn to be strong for you?” she said, wiping away tears and trying her best not to cry. 

“Lena…” William reached out to her as much as he could, his arm nearly touching her pillow. Lena continued to look away. 

“I’m serious. No matter what happens, you’re always so strong and so brave and comforting. I just- I feel so inadequate,” she whispered. 

“Lena, you aren’t inadequate,” He said softly. “You’re just…”

“Damaged?” she said, matter-of-factly. “Don’t pretend it isn’t true- I know what my mother has done.”

“Lena, I don’t care. I love you,” He said. 

“And I love you- but… I just… you’ve always been so strong for me William. I want to return the favor, just once…” She looked at him. 

“Lena, we’ve both lost so much… this shouldn’t be something we measure or keep track of,” He said, and Lena placed her head where his hand is on her pillow. 

“I miss them, William,” she whispered. 

“I miss them too, my love,” he whispered back. Lena kissed his hand. 

“We’ll get them back, Lena. I promise,” he said. Lena nodded, kissing his hand again and closing her eyes.

“I promise too. No matter what it takes, we are going to get our babies back.” 


	11. Routine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yakko, Wakko, and Dot try to find some form of security and togetherness now that their parents are gone.

A week had passed since the funeral, and the warner siblings could feel the ticking clock on when they expected their grandmother to strike everywhere they went. She hadn’t done anything in so long, it was highly suspicious. 

However, there simply wasn’t anything they could do anymore. their parents were dead, simple as that. Whatever protection they had before had now evaporated into thin air-

Well, unless you were Yakko, who was determined now more than ever to be his sibling’s shield and protector from their grandmother. He swore an oath to himself he’d never let anything bad happen to either Wakko or Dot ever again- not if he had any say in it. He was their guardian now, simple as that. 

The queen seemed to understand this somehow, as she summoned Yakko to the throne room for a private discussion. Regarding what, she wouldn’t say. Reluctantly, Yakko left his sibs alone in the playroom and met with his grandmother. 

“Yakko,” she nodded at him, still wearing the veil. 

“Grandmother,” He said coldly. 

“A short temper will get you nowhere in life, even you ought to know that by now,” she shook her head disapprovingly. 

“I’ve summonsed you to inform you that Angelina will be beginning her lessons with me by this time tomorrow, right after yours are finished,” The old queen said.

“What? But she isn’t even five yet, she’s not old enough for schooling,” Yakko protested. “And what about Wakko? You still haven’t started his tutoring and he’s eight, should he be your focus?” 

“I don’t educate wild animals,” she brushed it off. “And as for Angelina being too young, that’s ridiculous. A lady is never too young to get some manners in her.”

“It’s only been a week since Mom and Dad-”

“Died, yes, I’ve been plenty patient,” She nodded to herself.

“Patient-?” Yakko stepped back in bewilderment at her self-assurity. 

“Are you _really_ questioning me?” She raised an eyebrow from behind the veil- or at least, Yakko assumed she did. With how thick it was impossible to tell, but it seemed something she’d do. Yakko shook his head. 

“No, grandmother,” he looked at the ground. 

“Head up, Yakko, you’re a prince for crying out loud,” she scolded, and he obeyed. 

“So…?” he asked quietly. The queen sighed, annoyed. 

“So Angelina begins her lessons tomorrow, and I expect you to make that known to her.” she declared. 

“Right… okay,” He knew better than to fight with her any bit more than he already had. 

“Oh, and one more thing I forgot to mention: I’m separating yours and Wakkorotti’s rooms,” She said. 

“Wh-what? Why? What harm does us sharing rooms do?” Yakko did his best to sound in control. 

“Wakkorotti is a distraction for you and Angelina. It is my duty as queen to prepare you for the throne, and for her to become a lady, and part of that si separating you from the filth… though if you’d prefer I move him to the tower, that is an option I’m more than willing to take,” She smirked. Yakko growled. 

“No, that’s fine,” he said. 

“Good,” she smiled. “Run along then. I expect her to be there as soon as our lesson is over. No later, no earlier, understood?”

“Understood,” he nodded begrudgingly.

The moment Yakko was safe to tear his grandmother’s arms off, he wouldn’t hesitate.

“Good. You are dismissed,” she waved her hand, and Yakko left the throne room.

So… great. Another thing for him to worry about.

Dot wasn’t even five yet, but now she was going to be exposed to her grandmother’s influences. Yakko just hoped she wouldn’t start acting like he did when he started taking lessons- he still couldn’t believe it took seeing her hit Wakko to snap him out of being a total jerk. Sure- he was only eight at the time, but still. It was bad.

He really hoped Dot would be different.

And Wakko… how on earth was he supposed to tell him that? It’d sound like Yakko didn’t want him anymore- which wasn’t good. Of course, he could always blame the queen- it was her fault really- but that could get him mad which he also doesn’t want.

Was this how his parents had felt 24/7? if so, Yakko felt really bad for them, all those times he insisted on knowing or just plain making problems worse.

A wave of numbness washed over him, and Yakko tried to suppress it as he entered the playroom once more.

“Yakko! We’re playing Dragon Princess,” Dot grinned up at him.

“Oh? And what’s that?” Yakko sat down on the floor next to them.

“It’s a game where you’re either a dragon or a princess, and if you guess wrong, the dragon eats your face,” Wakko grinned, showing him the doll. Yakko snorted.

“Sounds fun,” He chuckled.

“So… what did grandmum want?” Wakko asked cautiously. Yakko sighed.

“Dot, you’ll be beginning lessons with grandma tomorrow, right after my own end. And Wakko… you’re moving bedrooms.”

“What? Why?” both said in unison.

“Well… I started lessons with grandma when I was five,” Yakko decided to address Dot’s questions first.

“That’s not fair, Wakko doesn’t take lessons,” She frowned and crossed her arms.

“Yeah! Why don’t I get lessons?” he huffed and copied his sister’s motion.

“Wakko, you don’t even like her. Why would you _want_ lessons?” Yakko pointed out.

“Well- I… uh…” Wakko came up blank.

“She’s mean, I don’t wanna,” Dot turned up her nose. 

“Dot, you don’t have a choice,” Yakko said. “Bad things happen when we disobey her, remember?” 

Dot paused at that, making eye contact with Wakko. She lowered her head. 

“Okay…” she mumbled. 

“What about me? Why do I have to move rooms?” Wakko frowned. 

“It’s out of my control, Wak. I wish I could explain, but you know how she is…” Yakko sighed, figuring that was the best way he could explain without hurting Wakko further. 

“But I like sharing a room with you…” Wakko’s tail twitched. “It’s a lot less lonely.”

“I know Wak, I like sharing a room too,” Yakko opened his arms, and Wakko hugged him. “But this just isn’t in our control… it’ll be better than the tower at least.”

Wakko nodded, and Dot looked even guiltier than before. 

“That place sucks,” He said. 

“I bet, from what I’ve heard,” Yakko patted his head. 

“…I’ll miss you,” he sighed. 

“Hey, it’s not like you’re moving across the country. You can still stop by my room any time- I’m even sure that if we’re extra careful and quiet, we could all organize a sleepover some time,” Yakko winked, and his sib’s faces lit up.

“That sounds faboo!” Wakko grinned. 

“Yeah! That sounds fun,” Dot grinned too. 

“Alright, alright, I hear you two,” Yakko chuckled. “I’ll figure out a time… hopefully when she most certainly wouldn’t notice…” he said that last part to himself mostly. 

And so it was settled. Dot was to begin her lessons, and Wakko was to get a room of his own, a little bit away from Yakko and Dot’s. So far it wasn’t so bad… right? 

A few months passed, and Dot began her lessons. It was pretty obvious that she had a strong distaste for them, but it was also very clear that despite being just shy of five, she still understood the consequences of her actions. Yakko couldn’t say he was happy at that though… 

She wasn’t even five. She should have time to be a little kid, play wild games, and make mistakes, not bottle everything up in attempts to be the perfect princess their grandmother wanted her to be. 

Yakko did his best to encourage her wild side, but he knew just how badly they’d get in trouble so despite desperately wanting to try and undo what she was trying, there was nothing they could really do. 

This really sucked. 

Yakko missed his parents tremendously when he thought like this, so he tried not to dwell. Instead, he focused on planning that sleepover for Dot’s fifth birthday, which he was actually looking forward to. 

Though it’d be the first birthday they’d celebrate without their parents…

No… he shouldn’t focus on that. They were together, they were safe. This was a day of celebration- a day they were all going to sneak together and celebrate as much as they could. Plus, if he got one of the cooks to agree, he could even get him and his sibs a mini cake they could split, which would be fun. 

And luckily he did. Quietly and carefully, he brought the dessert to his room and Wakko and Dot were thrilled. They sang, played a few games, and talked and talked and talked and talked. They didn’t have any presents to give her, but Dot was fine with just their company. 

Truthfully, the lessons had done quite a bit to isolate the sibs, so being able to just hang out again felt really good- for all of them, despite what was weighing on their minds. It didn’t matter they didn’t really have much to discuss outside of lessons- they just missed being together that much. 

“-It’s not all bad- I get to wear big skirts, and I get taught how to dance- like this!” Dot sprung up from her bed and began to waltz, and it wasn’t too shabby. At the mention of the lessons though, Wakko frowned and looked at the floor. 

“That’s not too bad Dot,” he complimented her, and she beamed before running up onto the bed again. 

“I think it’s stupid,” Wakko mumbled. 

“Wakko, that’s rude,” Yakko frowned. 

“It’s true,” He huffed. 

“Dancing is quite the skill- I know for a fact that I’m a terrible dancer- grandma gave up on teaching me years ago,” he snorted. Wakko raised a knee and leaned against it. 

“Wakko, what’s wrong?” Yakko frowned.

“I just… I wanna learn too,” he mumbled. 

“But you hate-”

“I know I hate her, Yakko.” he snapped. “It’s just-… I miss talking to you two about things I know. You keep talkin’ about history and dancing or whatever… I wanna learn too.”

Wakko’s words hit Yakko like a slap in the face. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t realize you felt that way sooner Wak,” he apologized. Wakko shrugged. 

“I just-… I know she thinks I’m stupid… a-and you keep telling me I’m not, a-and I want to believe I’m not, but… I don’t know things. She won’t give me a chance… even though I’d probably screw it up,” Wakko sighed. 

“Wakko… you aren’t stupid, and you don’t need grandma to teach you to prove otherwise,” he placed a hand on his shoulder. 

“Still… it’d be nice… I can barely even read,” he muttered, and Yakko felt another wave of guilt. 

He had forgotten Dad had been teaching Wakko to read while he was at his lessons before the attack, and that Wakko was slow, but eventually getting a grip. He should’ve remembered- he should’ve continued. 

“I can teach you, if you want,” Yakko offered.

“Me too! We can help each other,” Dot grinned. 

“R-really?” Wakko blinked. 

“Of course, Wak, what are siblings for?” Yakko teased and poked him with his elbow, which made him laugh. 

“And I can teach you other stuff too! Like waltzing and tea parties and manners- though that’s kinda boring…” Dot thought about it. 

“I like tea parties,” Wakko said, and Dot grinned. 

“Okay,” She said. 

“And I’ll help teach you what I know- it can be our little secret,” Yakko winked at his sibs. 

“Right. No telling Grandma,” Wakko did a ‘lips are sealed’ motion, and Dot copied. 

And so it was decided, Yakko and Dot would try to give Wakko lessons of his own, with varying degrees of success. However, it brought the sibs closer together, and they hadn’t been caught yet, so for the first time in a little while, things felt… in control. 

Not good by any means, but a routine had been formed, and nobody had gotten hurt yet, and Yakko was determined to keep it that way for as long as possible. 


	12. Wakko's Wish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wakko makes a wish upon a star

Wakko wasn’t sure how much longer he could take this. 

He was barely holding on as it was, always trying to keep on a happy face for his sibs, make them believe everything was okay. Dot was a lot easier to trick than Yakko, but even he could be swayed with very little effort. After all, it was very clear that their parents were never going to come back…

It had been almost a year. Wakko still missed them every day. He missed their protection… Yakko was trying, that was true, but even he could get distracted. Sometimes he’d be studying off in the library when Wakko needed food, so he’d have to figure it out on his own because God knows he couldn’t ask his grandmother for anything. Wakko figured it out for the most part, but it was easy to say he missed quite a few meals over the years because of fear of disturbing Her. 

Wakko knew she placed his room by hers for the specific purpose of making his life a living hell without his sibs. After all, she hated him. The only reason she’d want to be near is if she wanted to keep an eye out, or if she wanted to hurt him somehow. Well- she succeeded on that end anyway, though perhaps the better word was torture. 

Sure, sometimes Wakko could manage to sneak past if he crawled on his hands and knees and put socks on his feet and hands, but he was filled with anxiety that simply wouldn’t leave him the whole time. He was terrified of getting his sibs in danger- a trait he knew he shared with both of them. 

They were all putting on a happy face, he supposed. 

He couldn’t say it was all bad… he was getting better at reading. Dot read easy stuff which helped him boost his confidence, while Yakko read more difficult stuff to make sure he was actually learning, which- while Wakko kinda hated it- he couldn’t deny worked. He was getting better- he was _actually_ learning things, which felt nice. 

Though they had had a few close calls here and there…

Wakko wasn’t sure what would happen if they got caught, but he was pretty sure they’d get into serious trouble. For whatever reason, Angelina really hated the fact Wakko was stupid but hated him trying to better himself even more. It was like she wanted a bug under her shoe to squish just for fun… the thought made Wakko shudder. 

So… the year had its good moments, but… a year had really taken it’s tole. The only major good part was that Angelina stopped wearing that stupid veil and pretended to be grieving. Now you knew what she was thinking and saying, which… well… good and bad. 

Good and bad. 

“What’s this word, Wakko?” Yakko asked, pointing to a particularly long one on the page in front of Wakko. He frowned at it. 

“I dunno,” he shrugged. 

“You’re a smart kid, sound it out,” Yakko said. Wakko winced a little and looked at the page. 

In truth, he sometimes debated with himself whether it was better to be stupid or to be smart. He wanted to know things, but at the same time knowledge seemed like a burden more than anything. At least- that’s what he got from observing Yakko. Yakko always had something on his mind, something big, while Wakko hardly ever thought about things other than food or some imaginary story he likes playing on repeat to keep himself busy while his sibs were gone. 

“in… for…ma…ti..own?” He looked at his elder brother. 

“Close. Information. Tion sounds like shun,” Yakko pointed out. 

“Right, that’s information,” he nodded. He knew the words, he was nine after all, but reading just makes them look unfamiliar. 

Yakko was then going to make him read the full sentence again, but a familiar shout was heard right outside, and the boys froze as the door swung open. 

“Yakko- calm this child down,” Angelina shoved Dot, who was crying, towards Yakko, when her eyes fell upon them. 

“What on _earth_ is going on here?” She glared at Wakko, and he felt his heart beat faster. 

“W-well I-i was just-” Yakko tried to think of what to say as Dot went to him, but Angelina yanked Dot back, before going to Yakko herself and slapping him across the face and he slammed into a bookshelf, books spilling out onto him.

“What did I tell you?! You are _not_ to educate that bastard creature, lest you and him face _serious_ consequences,” She fumed. 

“No!!! Don’t hurt him!!!” Dot continued to cry. Wakko growled and just about leaped out of the chair, but Angelina grabbed him by the ears. 

“ _This_ is on _you_ ,” She spat, and began to drag Wakko out of the room. 

“No! It’s my fault! I forgot the dress type! Please! Punish me instead!” Dot insisted, stepping out in front of Angelina. 

“Oh Angelina,” The queen shook her head, placing a soft hand against Dot’s face. Dot froze.

“ _If you get in my way again I assure you his punishment will be increased tenfold.”_ She whispered harshly. 

“Now be a good girl Angelina, and run along now. You have much to study,” She smiled sweetly. 

“My name is _Dot,”_ She muttered to herself, bearing her teeth.

“Dot, _no_ ,” Wakko pleaded with her. Angelina tightened her pull on his ears. 

“It’d be wise for you to listen to him for once,” She smiled more. Dot growled again, but stepped backward, and looked back at Wakko. 

“Angelina. Move,” She ordered. Dot looked at the arm holding Wakko, a very obvious thought popping into her head. Angelina growled. 

“I expected more from you,” She said, before kicking Dot to the ground and moving on, giving Wakko’s ears a massive tug before continuing on. 

Wakko heard Dot get up from behind, trying to keep her distance, but her tears made her noticeable. 

Quickly and painfully, they turned around halls and owners of the castle, before Wakko realized she wasn’t going to be putting him in his room, and he was filled his dread and terror. 

“Wh-where are you taking him?!” Dot shouted at her, once she had the same thought. 

“That is none of your concern, Dot.” She said coldly. “I’m teaching you three a lesson.”

“Let go of him!” Dot shouted again as Angelina started to go up the enormous stairwell. The queen ignored her, climbing higher and higher. 

“I said let him go!” Dot shouted, pulling on her dress as she had a year ago. Angelina froze, before turning around, dangling Wakko off of the stairs above the at least 20 foot drop below, only holding him by his neck.

“Shout at me again young lady, and _I will_ ,” She threatened. Dot gasped, covering her mouth. 

“Wait- please! Don’t hurt him-!” She begged, and Wakko did his best not to be terrified for his life but uh- 20 ft drop. 

“Go back downstairs, Angelina. You’ve done _enough_ today,” She spat in her face. Dot wanted to protest, but the queen lifted Wakko higher and Dot backed down, lowering her head in shame as more tears streamed down. 

“Good girl,” The queen smiled, and patted her head, before turning around and continuing to drag Wakko up, Dot’s sobs echoing as they went all the way to the top. At this point, Wakko was pounding and kicking against her best he could, but she proved herself to have gotten wiser about that, as her long silk gloves prevented scratches or bites to her skin, and her pure gold bracelets also didn’t help. 

Eventually, she reached the top of the familiar tower, and she tossed him in like an animal. She closed and locked the heavy iron door and the sound made Wakko’s head hurt. 

“How long do you plan to leave me here, huh?!” He demanded, running to the door. However, to his horror, she left without a word to him. He listened closely to the door, still hearing Dot’s cries when he heard her yelp in pain. Wakko pounded on the door, but since it was no longer wood, all that ended up doing was hurting his hand. Wakko cringed in the pain, but knew there was nothing he could do. 

He was locked in here… for who knows how long. Could be days, weeks… months…

If she even bothered to keep him alive, which was something she was clearly starting to debate more and more as time passed. Wakko didn’t want to die-

At least… not yet. 

Perhaps it was foolish, but he did still have a shred of hope for his future, though it only got cloudier and cloudier as days passed. He tried to remember the advice and optimism of his dad, but that only brought up the painful feeling of him being gone. The same thing happened when he tried to imagine his mom comforting him too. 

After a while of him just sitting on the cold and filthy floor in shock and pain, he heard pounding on the door. 

“Wakko? Wakko? Are you in there?” Yakko called from outside. 

“Y-yeah!” he replied, wiping his eyes. 

“We-we’re gonna get you out Wakko. I promise,” he declared. 

“Yakko, you can’t promise that,” Wakko frowned. 

“Yes, I can Wakko. We’re going to get you out,” He asserted. 

“She’ll kill you- she’ll kill me if you try,” Wakko pleaded. 

“I know… but… w-we’ll escape. Run away to a far-off town where no one will find you two. We’ll be safe,” Yakko said, becoming more and more desperate.

“You’ve said it yourself: a place like that doesn’t exist,” Wakko crossed his arms, leaning against the cold door. He heard Yakko do the same. 

“We… we could…” Yakko tried to think. 

“Yakko… you should just forget about me. You and Dot would be fine without me, I hold you two down. I should just- stay up here and- and die,” Wakko pulled his knees to his chest. 

“Wakko!” he gasped. “Don’t say that!” he said, much softer. 

“Grandma will never care about me, a-and mum and d-daddoo are gone s-so… it would just be easier for me to stay here… away from you two… just like she wants,” He suppressed tears best he could, but choked on the lump in his throat. 

“Wakko, _no.”_ Wakko heard him turn around to face the door again. 

“No matter what happens, we are _not_ going to give up on you. I’m here- I’m _always_ gonna be here, Wak,” He spoke softly. 

“Mum and Dad said they’d be here too…”

A painful silence hummed through the air. It hurt to even breathe after he spoke. Wakko gave in and cried. 

“Wak… I-i… I don’t know what to say…” Yakko said. 

“Just go away- before you get locked away too,” He sobbed. 

Yakko didn’t respond, staying there for a long, long time. 

Wakko didn’t say anything either. 

“We will rescue you Wak… I promise,” Yakko repeated, before standing up and going. 

Wakko stayed on the floor the rest of the day. 

.o0o.

Angelina hadn’t been sending servants to give him food, only water. 

Wakko had been up there for three days and it was easily the most miserable he had ever been in his life. 

He knew his mother had been sent up there at least once. He could see her carvings in the wall, and scratches on the floor, which he traced over his finger and slowly read. 

“Yakko? Slacky? Wacky?” and “ ~~Harold the 9th~~ ” was written beside the bed. There was a tally for what he assumed were days next to the broken mirror. Other random words he couldn’t quite read were sprawled all around. 

Yakko came up to talk every now and then, but he never could stay long. Wakko kept meaning to ask him for food, but he knew Angelina was strict on eating hours, so it was unlikely he could sneak into the kitchen to grab anything anymore. It just… wasn’t that simple anymore. 

He also promised he was thinking of an escape. Wakko thanked him for the effort, but his hope wasn’t high.

Dot came at one point too. She cried and apologized and explained how it was her fault their grandmother got mad, saying how she hadn’t read the page she was supposed to the night before and didn’t know the types of dresses and she got mad, which made her cry, which made her take her to Yakko, which caused everything else. Wakko told her not to blame herself, but he knew that wasn’t going to resonate. Just another way their grandmother tightened her grip around them. 

But for the most part, he was alone. Utterly and perfectly alone…

He had his little imaginary games in his mind, but even those ran out eventually, mostly due to the cold. Stupid early winters…

One particularly cold night, Wakko said “screw it” and went to the window and looked out at the stars. 

They shined a lot better all the way up here, at least that was nice…

As he looked up, a chill ran through him and he was reminded of just how hungry he was. He cringed in the pain, and looked up at the stars, having run out of tears days ago. 

“I… I wish mum and dad were still here… If they were alive everything would go back to being okay…” he whispered weakly to the brightest star he could see. The stars twinkled back. 

Wakko sighed, lowering his head, continuing to look when he noticed that the star appeared to be growing larger- that wasn’t normal, right? And if it’s not, was it actually happening, or was he just seeing things because he was hungry?

It also appeared to be growing closer- that wasn’t good. Too close and it’d probably destroy the whole castle. Wakko scrambled back from the window and pounded on the door for help, but nobody heard or came. Wakko braced himself as the light got brighter and brighter and eventually filled the dark tower. 

However, nothing crashed or burned or turned him into goop, so Wakko slowly turned around and opened his eyes, and he saw a glowing figure in a really poor looking rope, cheap wand, and wings. 

Well- that was interesting. 

“Uh- who are you?” Wakko asked, really uncomfortable with the idea of a stranger popping into his prison out of nowhere. 

“I’m your desire fulfillment facilitator, Pip,” the desire fulfillment facilitator said dryly. Wakko blinked. 

“Uh- hi, Pip,” he said. 

“Congratulations Wakko, you did it. Out of all of the stars in the night sky, you made your wish up the wishing star,” He said, so monotone Wakko wanted to tears his ears off despite the fact that he was saying good news. 

“The Wishing Star? I’ve never heard of a Wishing Star,” He frowned. 

“Didn’t your mother ever tell you stories?” He asked. Wakko shook his head. 

“Hm… doesn’t matter. You did it anyway. It was your request for a wish that brought me here,” he said. 

“Wait- so- you can bring my parents back?” Wakko realized. He nodded, and Wakko almost passed out. 

“You’ve decided on your wish?” He asked. 

“I just said-”

“Right, right. Welp- here it goes,” Pip snapped his fingers, and ball of green light shot across the sky, and crashed far, far away- behind the mountains in the horizon. Wakko frowned. 

“Hey, what gives? It couldn’t be any closer than that?” He frowned. 

“Oh whoops, too late to fix now,” Pip scratched the back of his neck. Wakko gave him a look. “Looks like you have quite the trek ahead of you.”

“Yeah… I guess so,” Wakko couldn’t be sour for long, now entranced by the bright light. 

“And you better be going if you don’t want competition to build up,” Pip added. 

“What?! How am I supposed to reach it if I’m stuck in this tower! These rules are completely unfair,” Wakko crossed his arms. 

“Don’t worry Wakko, your siblings will be coming to get you soon, you’ll just have to tell them where to go,” Pip explained. 

“Huh?” He tilted his head when he heard footsteps not far away from the door. 

“I must go now- just remember this: the one who touches the fallen star first gets their wish. If you aren’t first, you don’t get it,” He said.

“What’s the point of me wishing on the star then, if it’s just up for grabs? that’s lame,” He crossed his arms. 

“Whoops- I gotta go, bye,” He waved and turned to star dust before disappearing completely, right before he heard a knock at the door. 

So much for that guys help. 

“Wakko?” It was Yakko. 

“Yakko? What’re you doing here?” Wakko asked. 

“We’ve come to break you out,” Dot chimed in, and a very, very, very long rope made of several sheets was pushed through his “meal slot”. 

Wakko didn’t know what to say. 

“Tie one end to the hook by the window and climb down- my advice is to not look down and pretend like it’s just training with Dad. Plus, me and Dot will be waiting for you at the bottom,” Yakko explained. 

“Wait- I have to tell you,” Wakko interrupted. 

“What?” Yakko asked, surprised Wakko wasn’t protesting. 

“I-i made a wish at a star tonight and well- apparently it was the wishing star so now we have to go- like… _really actually_ go so I can make my wish and then everything will be okay and happy just like it used to be,” Wakko said. 

“The… wishing star? I thought that was just some kiddy bedtime story…” Yakko said, mostly to himself. 

“Well- apparently not,” Wakko said, taking one end and tying it to the hook-like Yakko said. Yakko sighed. 

“We’ll talk about this once you’re down. Me and Dot are gonna wait at the bottom,” He said. 

“Okay… see you on the other side,” Wakko said, making the mistake of looking at how far away down was, but was surprised the rope actually went all the way down. 

That was a lot of sheets. 

“You got this Wakko!” Dot encouraged before he heard the two of them go. 

Right. He had this. 

He may not have been very smart, but he was a good climber. He could do this…

At least, he hoped anyway. 

He promised right then and there that if he was going to make it out of this alive, he was definitely going to go to the Wishing Star- it couldn’t be more dangerous than climbing down a 50-foot rope made of tied sheets, 

…Could it?

.o0o. 

Lena despised being in recovery more than anything. She had been rendered practically immobile because of her broken leg, and her weakened muscles took months of physical therapy to rest and recover. 

Every day she thought of her children, and missed them dearly. She knew when all of their birthdays were and was overcome with grief as each passed. 

She was supposed to be there, with them. Celebrating, laughing, protecting.

Instead?

Now she was in William’s hometown, mooching off of their generosity because of her title, feeling utterly and totally useless. 

After months and months of healing and resting and physical therapy she was finally back to semi-functionality. Sure, she could now go for strolls at night with William (it was part of her physical therapy- stupid leg injuries), but she knew she still couldn’t actually do anything- she still couldn’t go back to the castle and put an end to her mother’s reign. They’d be caught- called imposters and possibly be killed. 

Lena couldn’t imagine making her children go through them dying twice. 

“Lena..? What are you thinking about this night?” William asked softly, and Lena remembered where she was. 

“Just… everything,” she sighed. William kissed her hand. 

“We’ll figure it out, I promise,” He said. Lena closed her eyes and tried to believe it. 

“A year William… My mother must’ve done numerous unspeakable things to them by now…” She looked away at the plaza. He squeezed her hand. 

“I was thinking of the same thing…” he said. Lena put her head on his shoulder. 

“I miss Wakko’s jokes… I miss Yakko’s wit… I miss Dot’s smile,” Lena said, smiling a little at the memory. 

“We’ll figure it out soon, i promise,” he kissed her head and closed his eyes as they sat on a bench outside the hospital.

“Soon…” she echoed. 

Soon her ass. 

Soon was a ridiculous unit of time. No matter how much time had passed, everything seemed to be “soon”. The word drove her mad. 

She was going to say something about this, when suddenly a bright green shooting star suddenly soared through the sky, grabbing her attention as it went all the way down before suddenly crashing down behind the Acme Mountains. 

“William- did you see that?” Lena tugged on his arm. 

“See what?” He tilted his head. 

“That star- it crashed just behind Acme Mountains,” She shook him so he opened his eyes and he quickly saw it. 

“That’s- no… that couldn’t be..? Could it?” He squinted at it. 

“I think it is…” Lena said. 

“You think the Wishing Star could actually be real?” He asked. 

“My father taught me about it when I was a little girl, the books are still in the library. My mother never approved of fictional books- it has to be true,” Lena quickly stood up. 

“Careful Lena, you’re still-”

“Oh hush William. Don’t you know what this means?” She asked. “This is our chance- we reach the wishing star we can reunite with the kids- and take down my mother for good.” 

“And everything would be perfect again…” William couldn’t help but smile. He stood and kissed her. 

“C’mon- we haven’t a moment to waste,” Lena said. 

“Woah, woah, woah. Lena, it’s very late. We need to go to sleep,” He said. 

“But- William- it’s right there,” She frowned. 

“Yes, but we’ll have to get a horse or two to share and it’ll be a long and treacherous journey- those mountains aren’t exactly easy to get through,” William warned. Lena sighed. 

“But… it’s right there… Our kids…” She looked at it. 

“I know… but I promise Lena, it’ll still be there in the morning. Wishing Stars aren’t common knowledge, and we’ll have the distance advantage,” William said. “So please… let’s get some rest before we go out, alright?” 

Lena sighed. “I hate when you’re right.”

“You love me,” He teased. 

“I know,” She rolled her eyes and kissed his cheek. “But.. tomorrow?”

He nodded. “Tomorrow. We’ll head out first thing in the morning.”

“To the Wishing Star…” She smiled. 

They were going to see their kids again after all. 


	13. On Our Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're on their way to wishing star babyyyy

Yakko was glad that Wakko had already climbed to the bottom of the tower by the time he had gathered everything they’d need for their trip to the wishing star and he got to the bottom of the tower, otherwise he was pretty sure he would have had a heart attack from the anxiety. The tower was at least 50 feet tall for crying out loud- had it been any other circumstances, Yakko would’ve refused to even consider the thought.

Still, he made it, and all was well… for the moment anyhow. Yakko knew that “okay”ness wasn’t likely to last, especially if any of the guards noticed them slipping out with a sled in toe-

Okay, maybe this was a terrible idea… but they had to get there somehow. Yakko was not going to give up the opportunity of a lifetime just because it was a little stupid. They could finally, finally be free of their stupid grandmother. For good. If they made it they’d all be safe. Together. Happy.

Quickly and quietly, Yakko untied the last three bedsheets used to make Wakko’s rope and began to tie it to a stick, he then wedged into the sled, creating a kinda crappy but still functional makeshift sail of sorts that would hopefully work alongside the windy Acme Mountains to help them go further. He also set down a few blankets, their scarves, and snowshoes if needed. It was times like these he was grateful he was royalty- he couldn’t imagine not having warm enough clothes or supplies.

Dot sat in the sled while Yakko and Wakko began to pull, heading their way towards the back exit through the gardens- it was small and hardly ever used so they figured it was likely their best shot for escaping unnoticed.

Luck appeared to be on their side, as they had made it all the way to the gate itself, when a voice shouted for them to halt.

“Who goes there? On what business?” One knight said. Yakko gulped.

“W-well-”

“Aren’t you three the royal children? What are you doing up at such an hour?” The other asked. Yakko

“Well we were just on our way to- uh…”

“You three running away?” The first asked. Yakko, Wakko, and Dot looked at each other and shrugged. The guard nodded.

“I see,” He said, pulling the other to the side. There was a long awkward moment of just the two of them whispering, before he turned over.

“We were friends of your father. He was a brave man, we owe him a lot,” The first guard nodded.

“We will let you go, but we will not be able to stop her from chasing after,” The second said.

Yakko couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Really?! Thanks, misters!” Dot smiled at them.

“Dot, keep your voice down,” Yakko hushed her, before looking up at them. “Thanks though… it means a lot.”

They nodded, pulling a lever that opened the gate for them. Yakko nodded at his younger brother, and they pulled the sled out of the castle walls.

Alright, one obstacle down, a million more to go…

Well, at least they wouldn’t be discovered until morning- hopefully. That should give them enough time to make it to the mountains and get a fair head start before any of them noticed and went after them.

“Alright you two, you ready?” Yakko asked, noticing a breeze picking up. Wakko and Dot nodded, as Wakko got onto the sled. Yakko nodded back, as he started running downhill, catching the wind and they headed off to Acme Mountain.

.o0o.

“Are you sure we have everything William?”

“I’ve checked each bag a thousand times, Lena dear. We have everything,” William chuckled as closed the door to the cart.

“The cloaks? Food? Water? Extra mittens? The sword?” Lena asked.

“Even the sword, dear. It’ll be fine, Lena, we’re totally prepared, thanks to Helloise and Dr. Scratchnsniff,” William nodded at his childhood friend and the doctor.

“It’s not a problem, William. We’re always happy to help,” Helloise smiled. “Though… may I ask what the sword is needed for?”

William shrugged. “You never know with wild animals.”

“Well- don’t be too harsh on that arm of yours, or else you’ll end up right back,” Helloise chuckled.

“Right, yes,” Willaim laughed too.

“Yes- right. Seriously- thank you. For everything. Your hospitality has meant the world to us,” Lena said to them as well.

“It’s an honor, your majesty,” Helloise said.

“Right- well, if we want to reach the mountains by sunrise, we’d best get going,” William said, giving Helloise a quick hug before helping Lena onto her seat. 

“We want her back in one piece as much as possible, ya? We want to use her to sell our elixir,” Scratchy said as William got on.

“Not a scratch, got it,” William chuckled as he grabbed the reigns of the horse.

“Do be careful though, you’re still not-”

“Quite healed, I know. I promise, I’ll be careful,” Lena said as gracefully as possible, hiding her annoyance- which wasn’t with the good nurse, but more so with herself. The nurse and doctor nodded.

“Well- you best be off then. We wish you the best of luck,” Helloise said.

“Yes- good luck,” Scratchnsniff nodded.

“Thank you! We’ll be back as soon as we can!” Lena waved as William pulled the reigns and the horse began to move, and they were on their way to the Wishing Star.

.o0o.

It had been a long night for Yakko. Thankfully, the wind had been on their side and carried them all the way to the Acme Mountains, but Wakko and Dot had almost immediately fallen asleep on the sled, so Yakko was forced to stay up the whole night to make sure they didn’t crash into anything. The cold air did help with that, but Yakko wished he had something else to keep him awake- otherwise, he might just pass out, and then they’d have a huge problem (likely the crashing into things he was avoiding).

Dot did eventually wake up, though Wakko remained asleep. Yakko thought it probably had to do with the fact that despite being out in the cold mountains, the blankets were much thicker and comfortable than whatever was in that dusty tower. He deserved his rest.

It couldn’t be more than an hour or two away- they were close. The mountains weren’t too terrible, though they were unfamiliar. Still, the path was wide and clear, and their sled had the perfect momentum.

However, their luck was bound to end at some point, as Yakko looked back through one pass and noticed that a royal carriage was in the distance. Now, there was a chance it didn’t see them and that they couldn’t get any closer, but Yakko was still on edge (as was per usual for the eldest prince).

Plus, he had noticed another group was following- though he hadn’t gotten a good look, he had only seen them briefly. They were on an elixir cart and were covered in coats and hoods, so Yakko couldn’t get a good look. They were probably just there to take what was rightfully their’s, which Yakko knew was a possibility but was still annoyed that it happened.

He just hoped that their sled would stay fast enough so hopefully those people wouldn’t even come close to them and the star.

“You look tired,” Dot said as she rubbed her eyes.

“Staying up will do that to you,” Yakko didn’t fight it.

“Is Wakko okay?” Dot asked, poking her brother slightly.

“Of course, he’s just… tired,” Yakko glanced down at his little brother, noticing how much he appeared to be clutching the blankets tightly despite sleeping, curled up into a ball.

“And cold, probably,” Yakko said, reasoning that it was a good position to preserve body heat. Dot nodded her head.

“I’m hungry,” Dot frowned.

“I only managed to grab a little food- let’s wait a while, okay?” Yakko sighed. Dot did too, but she was understanding so she didn’t complain.

They carried on for a little while, but it wasn’t too long before they ran into a long wooden bridge, which meant they’d have to pull the sled across.

“Wakko, wake up,” Yakko nudged his little brother. Wakko groaned.

“Wak, I need you to help me pull the sled, can you do that for me?” Yakko asked politely. Wakko groaned again.

“Mm… why can’t Dot?” he said. Yakko rolled his eyes.

“You know she isn’t as strong as you. Get your lazy butt up and help me,” Yakko said, jumping off and getting the rope so he could tie it around and pull the sled. Once he’d done that, he went back to Wakko, who still hadn’t moved.

“C’mon Wakko, you gotta hurry up- we can’t let them catch up to us,” Yakko said, getting more aggravated. Wakko sighed and tiredly pulled himself upright, taking off the blankets, and stepping out.

However, the moment he was on his own two legs, they immediately buckled and he face-planted into the snow.

“Wakko!” Yakko gasped and went to him.

“Wakko, what’s wrong?” He asked, holding him. Wakko was shivering.

“Mm… hungry,” he said hoarsely.

Yakko paused. 

“When was the last time you ate?” He asked.

“Four days..?” Wakko tried to think. Yakko’s heart sank.

Four days. He had been in the tower for three- Yakko should’ve noticed- he should’ve brought something- now Wakko was- well-

“Dot, can hand me the brown bag?” Yakko ordered more than asked. Dot was quick to obey and handed it over.

“I have food right here- it’s gonna be okay Wak,” Yakko said, taking out a piece of bread and giving it to him. Wakko nibbled on it weakly. Yakko didn’t hesitate to just hand him the whole bag of food and hand it to him.

“Wak- I-i’m so sorry-” he began to apologize.

“S’okay… I never told…” Wakko shrugged. Still, intense guilt grabbed hold of his entire body, which he was pretty sure was going to haunt him for the rest of the day.

“You’re doing great, okay? I mean it- I’m sorry for snapping,” Yakko said, picking up his weak brother and placing him back on the sled. 

“S’okay,” Wakko didn’t have the energy for words. Yakko again wanted to apologize, but they needed to get going if they were going to make it to the wishing star before anyone else caught up. 

“Well, Dot- you wanna try and help?” Yakko asked as he put Wakko back on the sled and under the blankets. Dot shrugged and got off. So then the pair grabbed the rope and began to pull with all their might, dragging the sled across the rickety bridge. Yakko cringed at every eerie creak the bridge gave as they stepped, but thankfully it didn’t break and they reached the end safely.

“Feeling any better Wak?” Yakko asked as Dot got back on, and Yakko prepared the sail once more.

“Lil,” he said, nibbling on another piece.

“Be sure to pace yourself- too much at once and you may go into shock,” Yakko said. Wakko nodded tiredly. He didn’t have the energy for eating quickly anyway. 

“ _Please be okay- I can’t have you dying from my neglect,”_ Yakko thought to himself as he started up the sled again, and they were on their way once more.

.o0o.

Lena and William had been riding for a little while now, though they quickly realized they weren’t alone. They caught a glimpse of another traveler, though they didn’t get a good look. Lena had immediately wanted to grab the reigns and make the horse go faster, but William promised he knew a shortcut through the mountains that could get them there before anyone else got to the star.

Lena hoped he was right.

Still, they were glad they packed cloaks to help them stay hidden. It made them feel a lot safer. Well that- and William kept the sword by his feet at all times too 

“These roads are a lot less defined than you said they were,” Lena remarked, as the cart hit another rock and the whole vehicle jumped.

“It’s fine, Lena. I know this place like the back of my hand,” William didn’t mind her pessimism.

“You see your hand every day. You’ve not seen these mountains in at least 13 years,” Lena rolled her eyes. William chuckled.

“You know, when we were kids, I always imagined bringing you to these mountains one day so we could watch the sunrise,” William said. Lena laughed a little.

“We were so young back then…” She said, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Would you have done anything differently?” He asked.

“Outside of poisoning my mother? No,” Lena said with a soft smile, holding William’s free hand.

“Though I must say, I imagine this all going in a very different way…” Lena sighed.

“I know dear… don’t worry though, we’ll be safe and reunited before you know it,” William reassured.

“You better be right, or else I’ll never forgive you,” Lena snorted.

“I’m right, and you know it,” He elbowed her a little. Lena laughed.

However, their joy was quickly halted when they heard a carriage get behind them. Quickly, they pulled up their hoods to make sure they covered their faces as much as possible, when it suddenly pulled up beside them and ordered them to halt. Wisely, they obeyed.

“You there, have you seen any travelers come this way?” It didn’t take them looking to know they were speaking to a royal guard.

“No,” Lena answered, disguising her voice.

It was the royal carriage.

 _“_ And you, what do you come for?” He asked. Lena and William exchanged a look.

“Answer in the name of the Queen,” The coachman ordered.

“We come to travel across to sell our elixirs over in Appleton, sir,” William said. The guard scratched his head, debating whether or not to believe them.

“You look like peasant folk, so I suppose I ought to believe that… know anything of a Wishing Star?” he asked them.

“No, sir,” Lena said, praying this conversation would be over.

“You there, sir… you seem familiar, do I know you?” The guard tilted his head, trying to get a better look at William.

“Oh- well, I - uh…” William panicked.

“You are _not_ to be talking with the commoners. We must reach it before they do,” A harsh voice from inside shouted at him, and Lena felt a chill crawl up her spine.

_Her mother was inside._

_“_ Yes, yes, your majesty,” the coachman rolled his eyes and started up their horses once more. “You travelers be safe- these mountains can be quite dangerous.”

“We will, goodbye,” She nodded, making sure to keep her face still hidden, until they were finally gone. Lena sighed a breath of relief before looking back at William.

“We’re going to get there first, we are _not_ going to let her win,” William swore, clutching the reigns. Lena agreed, making the same oath as well.

They were in this to win. Their family depended on it-

They were going tostop Angelina, no matter what it took.


End file.
